Suddenly Sexy
by Punkpoet69
Summary: Software Solutions CEO & President, Gabriella Montez has just about everything she planned for. Unfortunately, what she didn't count on was needing a green card. So she hires a man to marry her for 4 million dollars as payment. Together they venture into this commitment and soon realize that keeping their feelings out of a marriage is a lot harder than it seems.
1. Chapter 1

"Dude, this car is a done," Ryan said grimly as he looked up from under the hood, "my best advice? Get a new car."

Troy let out a delirious huff as he leaned back on the work bench, "It's not that easy," he mumbled as he lifted his beer to his lips. "Big Red is classic."

"Big Red has another 5 months in her tops."

Troy mouth hung agape, "Ryan, she can hear you," he mocked in appalled horror as he reached out to caress the hood of his Ford Explorer.

"I thought you just got a new job?" Ryan said reaching up and closing the hood of Troy's car.

"I did."

"And?" Ryan said coming around to where Troy was and selecting a beer out of the mini fridge for himself.

"And paying the rent, my student loans and my dad back kind of takes priority over getting a new car at the moment," Troy winced. Life hadn't exactly been kind to him lately that was for sure. After he graduated in the top fifteen percent of his class he was so confident that finding a job out in the real world would be a piece of cake. Turns out, not so much. After lots of temp jobs and a few false starts he finally landed an entry level job with Software Solutions.

Granted he was just an IT guy who was setting up computers all day and monitoring a server it was a start somewhere and he had to take it. Eventually he would get to write code and design. Eventually he'd get to do something with the forty-three thousand dollar education he was paying for.

It had always been his dream to design programs, to create something that people could use. He wanted to make a name for himself. Maybe start up his own company and offer consulting when necessary. He believe he had so much to offer and right now it was being wasted on this entry level position that had him connecting wires for scraps.

But what other options did he have? He had student loans to pay back, bills to consider and rent he could barely afford, in a shitty apartment he hated living in. Last year had been rough, during a patch of unemployment he actually had to ask his dad for money to help him get by. He still felt horrible about it. His parents had been so proud of him, graduating from college, a small town prodigy and here he was asking for money because he couldn't make his rent.

"Well, I hate to say this but your car is not going to last," Ryan said popping the top off his beer. "I can do a quick fix on the hose that's leaking motor oil but," Ryan let out a sigh as he looked back at the car parked in his garage.

"Do the quick fix, I'll figure something out." Troy let out a sigh.

"I'm almost afraid to ask," Ryan mumbled.

"Well, you shouldn't be, I have no idea what I'm figuring out yet." Troy looked down at his beer, "How life as a dad?"

"Just yesterday Michelle dropped her lollipop on Sugar's back. Poor cat's walking around with bald spot."

"Sounds charming."

"Just wait, your times coming."

Troy let out a laugh, "fat chance." He stood up straighter and looked around his friend's garage with a little envy. "Don't get me wrong I'm green with envy, you got the wife, the kid, the man cave … you have what America dresses up in fancy lingerie and sells to single men like myself all the time."

"Is that right?"

Troy looked at his car and shrugged, "Truth of the matter is, I've got too much debt, live in a shit apartment and have a crap job. No woman mildly attractive, who can cook, clean, and might have a decent credit score is going to hitch her wagon to this."

"Nice to see you have standards."

"I try," Troy tapped the top of his car, "How long is it going to take you to fix this beauty up?"

"I can work on it tonight, might be done in an hour maybe two. I think I have the parts I need." Ryan let out sigh as he looked at Troy's car with hesitance. "Have you ever thought of taking her to a real mechanic?"

"Not when my best friend who's a mechanical engineer can quick fix it for free." Troy started making his way out of the garage and back towards the house.

"Damn it Troy, take it to an actual mechanic," Ryan called after him as he looked back at the car parked in his garage. "This is ridiculous."

The next morning Troy took the elevator up to the thirty-fourth floor of his office building and began looking for office 301. The task seemed to be simple enough, he had ram that needed to be installed on a desktop computer. Walking past a few cubicles he made his way idly through a maze of people bustling around him.

He couldn't help himself from allowing his eyes to wonder every now and then over to some of the projects being worked on. Lingering a little outside of one cubicle as they talked about website design and menu feature options. His mouth was practically watering from the thought of it all.

Troy suddenly wished he'd tried harder to find a job. He could wait tables, deliver pizza or clean houses – anything that would pay his bills. But this job was paying his bills, he reminded himself. It may not be his chosen career path but it was easier than waiting tables and he had the experience. Besides it was too late to think about getting another job now he was already receiving final notices in the mail for his utilities. He needed the money and this was the best offer he'd had so far.

Okay, it was his only job offer so far. And 3 months of unemployment had made it not eligible for negotiation. He should just be so lucky he was hired as an entry level IT Tech rather than a Janitor. Things could always be a lot worst.

When he came to a corner filled with offices he looked up at the office doors and let out a sigh as he located 301. Looking around he glanced towards reception and found no one at the desk. Turning around he glanced back down the hall and found it deserted. Deciding to wing it, he came up to the door and knocked, but found no response.

"Hello," he called out.

When no one answered he reached for the knob and turn it letting himself in. The office was not at all what he expected. From the way the rest of the office design was he expected something cold and Spartan like, with a lot of empty space, no human touch whatsoever. Instead, the first thing that caught his eye when he walked in was the variety of tropical plants thriving around the office.

Some were clustered by the window, some featured in a small alcove against the back wall, and a few small ones even lived on the massive mahogany desk. The multitude of grow lights gave the office a soft, welcoming glow. The ceiling, too, was just the right height- not so tall that the space was forbidding, but not so low that it felt stuffy and cramped.

"Wow," Troy murmured to himself as he walked up to the desk and let his hand run along the edge. "What's a guy got to do to get a desk like this?"

Coming around the desk he glanced at the computer with envy. His personal computer was a decade old, running on borrowed time. Not at all like the beauty that he was currently looking at. This was portable touch-screen all-in-one computer. Something like this probably had 8GB of memory and a 1 terabyte Hard Drive.

He looked at the wireless keyboard and mouse with his bottom lip clenched between his teeth. "There no way they want me to crack you open."

Just then the office door flew open and overwhelming and powerful smell of Channel filled the room. "I want his head on a silver platter," the woman said with growl.

"Yes, maim," Said the other woman who followed.

"I have been living here and working in this country for a long time. This place is my home. This is where I have built everything that's important to me."

Troy watched the woman's fist shake with anger as she stomped her foot and came to a stop in the middle of the office. She was an image of grays and creams in her suit that must have cost more than his rent. Her hair was pulled back high in an elaborate bun. Not a strand out of place even in her fit of rage.

"Miss Montez," the other woman said quietly as she pointed toward Troy.

The woman looked up and immediately turned around her gaze narrowed and two cinnamon brown eyes knocked him right out of his stupor and into a terrible sinking feeling of wrong place at the wrong time.

"Hey." It was all he could muster.

"Who the hell are you?" her arms crossed and Troy sinking feeling was going under faster.

"Troy, from IT, Please don't fire me. I guarantee you, my life is a lot worse than yours and just the fact that I have to live it is punishment enough."

A small smirk pulled at her lips and her stance relaxed an inch, which wasn't much but he'd take it for the mile it might get him. "How is that?"

"Excuse me?" he asked caught off guard.

She shrugged her shoulders as if losing interest in the conversation rapidly, "How is your life worse than mine?"

Troy let out a sigh as he looked around the office with a raised brow, "Well, I mean do you know if Bon Jovi is still wanted Dead or Alive because I could really use the money?"

At that she lifted a hand to her lips to stifle a small giggle.

The sound of it seemed to not only shock him but shock her as well because as soon as the noise escaped her lips her eyebrows shot up in a curious expression.

"Why are you in my office?"

"There was an order to install ram on a computer at 301," he said holding up the work order sheet.

She stood in place hand held out as she motioned to see the piece of paper. When he realized she wasn't going to walk over to him he walked over to her and handed her the paper. "Sorry, I'm new here."

"Obviously."

Troy's eyebrows shot up and he eyed her with surprise. From this close up she seemed softer around the edges not so crisp and stone like. Her eyes read the work order. And then for some reason he'd never understand he couldn't stop the next words from coming out of his mouth. "Your perfume is very nice."

Her eyes flew up and two cinnamon brown discs examined him as if they were looking at an alien. "Does your girlfriend know that you're a charmer Mr. Bolton?" she offered him the work order.

A laugh escaped his lips and he took the work order back, "Yeah, I'll let Mila Kunis know immediately."

"You're quite the jokester aren't you Mr. Bolton?"

Her tone was sobering.

"I'm sorry."

"This work order is for station 301, not my office."

"Oh." His stomach hollowed. "I am terribly sorry for my existence and I would like to offer my eternal solitude and unhappiness as a peace offering."

"Is that all?" she said crossing her arms again.

"I'm going to leave, maybe find an unlocked window and jump from it just to make up for last 5 minutes of life."

Gabriella watched with a cautious glaze as the man in blue jeans left her office. She felt her lips pull in another unexpected smile and she quickly reminded herself that despite her momentary distraction she had other problems.

Turning back to her assistant, she let out a small grunt. "We need a plan."

"Yes, maim."

"That paperwork should have allowed me to legally live and work here. Now thanks to Jason Cross, I've lost a great deal of money and I'm receiving notice that I'm not longer welcome here. Like I'm some kind of terrorist. Seriously?"

Her assistant shut the door and sat down at the small table. "Should I notify your attorney?"

"Yes," Gabriella made her way around her desk examining the items on top to make sure nothing had been disturbed in her absents. "I want to go over my options, I am not ready to leave. I'm president and CEO of Software Solutions, I'll be damned if I give my company to some idiot who's going to run it into the ground."

A moment passed and she looked back towards the door. Her mind went back to man in blue jeans who had been standing here a few moments before. His eyes had been the bluest blue she'd ever seen and they were all she could think about while he stood there so close to her. Closer than any man had stood by her in a long time. Close enough to smell her perfume. And he liked it.

The last thought made her lips twitch again and she let out a groan of irritation. Honestly of all the things she didn't have time for, a crush on a maintenance man was one of them. Sitting down at her desk she fired up her computer and let out a small growl.

How long had it been since a man had complimented her? Her tastes had mellowed since the last time she activity searched for a man she showed any interest in. Nowadays she preferred the elegant, sophisticated kind. A man who'd gone to the right school and spent his days in the office and his weekends at the right corporate functions.

Lately, however, work had taken over completely, and even that sort of man had failed to entice her away from the office for a night out.

But that was how she wanted it. Work was far more satisfying and rewarding than letting some well-bred suit and tie take her out to an expensive restaurant that served a few pieces of lettuce elegantly arranged on a plate and called it dinner. Work didn't complain and frankly the conversations were better.

No, there hadn't been a man she'd wanted to take her out for a very long time.

Not that they hadn't tried to take her out. But she always refused. There was too much work to do especially since she taken over Software Solutions. Late nights, early mornings, including weekends, left little time for dates.

Which was probably why the man in blue jeans affected her so much. Too much bottled up stress and sexual energy that needed to be released. That must be it. She'd just needed to get primal for a while and feel like a woman after all these months of nothing but work. She just wanted attention is all.

Later that afternoon Taylor sat across from her in a chair looking over the paper work. "Girl, this is bad."

"But can we do something?"

Taylor let out a sigh as she let the heap of paper work fall into her lap. "Well I do have a connection at the INS, it might get us some wiggle room but not a lot."

"And what does that mean?" Gabriella said leaning on her desk as she crossed her arms. She hated feeling helpless.

Taylor looked up at Gabriella and let out a sigh, "It means we have to submit the paperwork again."

"I'll never make the deadline at this rate. I'll be kicked out of the country and I won't be allowed to return for whole year."

"Well," Taylor said quietly, "there is one other option."

Gabriella let out a sigh, "Thank god," she stood up straighter, "let's start working on it."

"Have you considered getting married?"

"W-what?" Gabriella jerked away from her desk, her entire body rim rod stiff as she looked down at Taylor with disbelief. "Are you suggesting that I commit marriage fraud in order to stay in the United States?" she whispered harshly.

"Do you have a better idea?"

Gabriella looked at her longtime friend and attorney, her insides twisted and her gut wrenched up into throat.

"It's no big deal, people get married all the time."

"Not when their getting deported."

Taylor let out a laugh, "especially when their getting deported."

Gabriella brought her hands up to her temples and then slowly ranked a hand through her hair. "This can't be happening to me."

"Well, it's happening," Taylor said matter of fact.

"I refuse to believe that I, Gabriella Marie Montez, president and CEO of Software Solutions is being deported like some kind of … like … like someone who's a criminal."

"It happens."

"I pay my taxes."

"Welcome to America."

Gabriella took two steps and sunk into the chair besides Taylor. "What am I going to do?"

Taylor was quiet as she watched her best friend hyperventilate beside her, "Sweetie, Chad knows a lot of suitable young men, I could have one of them down here in a half an hour. You just have to be married for two years, if you get on this now and make it as legit and real as possible we can make this work."

Gabriella frowned, "No."

"No?"

"I have someone."

Taylor entire face widen in surprise, "You do?"

"Maybe, I don't know. I have to ask."

Gabriella felt her pulse sky rocket. If she was going to do this she wasn't going to be stuck with some prep school socialite that would drive her out of her mind. No, if she had to do this she knew exactly the kind of man she wanted for the job. Someone who already feared her and she'd have complete control over.


	2. Chapter 2

Troy let out a shaky breath as he got off the elevator Tuesday morning. Yesterday after his horrible morning he thought things just couldn't get worst. Only to be proven wrong. When he asked one of the guys down stairs about the woman in office 301 he was informed that she was the president and CEO of the company.

He was absolutely sure he was going to be fired by the end of the day. He was more than positive that when came in this morning and seen that e-mail in his inbox that his billionaire boss's attorney had e-mailed him out of the blue requesting his appearance that he was officially a goner. His throat was tight, the sweat on his palms thick.

Upon more research he found out that many of his co-workers complained that his boss was notoriously difficult to work for. To her, he was sure he was no more than line on the payroll sheets that she blindly signed every quarter; he wasn't even confident that she remembered his name.

Oh if only he could go back in time when she didn't even know what he looked like. He hesitated at the door. His inside in turmoil before he heard the sound of the assistant at the desk behind him.

"Miss Montez, Mr. Bolton is here."

"Shit." He mumbled, "There goes my upper hand," he said quietly turning to smile at the woman who was sitting at the desk.

"You can go right in Mr. Bolton."

Troy nodded in thanks and took a deep breath as he pushed the door open and slowly peeked inside to find Miss Montez and another woman he assumed was the attorney already sitting inside.

"Mr. Bolton," she said smiling guardedly. Or maybe that was just her normal smile. He only ever seen her yesterday, how was he to know what her smiles looked like. "Please," she said gesturing towards one of the chairs. "Take a seat. Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee? Water? Juice?"

Troy shook his head, "No thank you."

Gabriella stood up, "Before we begin, I wanted to assure you that this meeting is absolutely nothing to be concerned about. I have no issues with your job performance here. I have a business proposal for you, which I believe to be mutually beneficial. My attorney is here to oversee our negotiations and ensure that each of us is getting a fair deal. Do you follow so far?"

Not really. "Yeah," Troy said swallowing hard as he took a seat next to the other woman. As he did Miss Montez sat down as well.

"I also want you to understand that if you refuse, your employment here would not be jeopardized in any way."

Troy's shoulder slumped in relief. "So I'm not being fired?"

Miss Montez's eyes widen, "Why would I fire you?"

Troy sat up straighter as her attorney also turned her attention towards him.

"I don't know last hired, first fired? I was in your office yesterday morning? I liked your perfume? I'm not exactly sure why I'm here right now but it's never really a good thing being called into the boss's office." Troy babbled as he wiped his hands on his jeans and glanced over at the woman sitting next to him.

Miss Montez's lips pulled up into a half smile as she looked down at her desk, "Mr. Bolton, this place is my home, but as it happens, I was born just across the border in Toronto. Unfortunately, I put my trust in the wrong person to handle the paperwork that should have allowed me to legally live and work here. He stole a lot of money from me, but worse than that, he failed to properly file my papers. I was not aware of this until I received notice from the INS that I was no longer welcome in the states." She paused to fidget with her bracelet. "You seem to be an intelligent man, Mr. Bolton, I'm sure you can see where this is going."

Troy sat up instinctively, this entire meeting had certainly taken an interesting turn. He forced himself to think about this logically, if such a thing were possible. She was a good-looking woman, of course, no question about that. In fact in comparison, he looked slightly dingy next to her. But apparently she didn't think so. Or she didn't care.

He cleared his throat. "Miss Montez… boss, maim, person." Troy let out a deep sigh as he cleared his head… "Can I ask why you picked me?"

She looked at him for a moment as if the answer was obvious. "Yesterday, you said you didn't have a girlfriend. You also said you needed money. I'd be willing to pay you for your services of course."

"Wow, that's … quite a leap of logic," he said frowning for a moment.

Miss Montez leaned back in her chair. "I'm sorry, have I offended you?"

"No," he said quietly taking everything in at once as he glanced around the room. Had he been offended? Should he be offended? "This is just… I mean, are you serious about this?"

"Yes," she said. "Of course."

"You're not playing some kind of elaborate prank on me are you?"

Her lips turned upward and she leaned forward, "What sort of person do you think I am?"

The attorney made a small noise, shifting in her chair.

"Right," Troy said with a small nod "and the compensation?" he said, trying to sound cool and composed. He wasn't sure about the proper way to react in this situation, hell he wasn't sure there was a proper way to react, but he was doing his best to act like he wasn't completely floored.

"It's quite simple, when you cut through all the legalese. You will need to live with me for the next two years, at least, for appearance's sake. During that time, I will support you and provide for all your needs and wants. After that time passes, you will be compensated with four million dollars U.S., payable in cash or bearer bonds."

Troy's heart stopped for a moment.

Miss Montez on the other hand didn't skip a beat. "You will need to end your employment here, obviously again, for appearance's sake. But I will ensure that you receive an even better job placement at another software institution after the terms of the agreement are fulfilled. In the event of any legal trouble, you will still be compensated, so long as you make a reasonable effort to keep the façade intact."

Troy's brain was at an utter stand still. He could barely tell if he were still breathing. Had he just died? Were they currently removing his body? Checking for a pulse? "What constitutes as a reasonable effort?" he heard himself ask.

Miss Montez held out some papers for him to take. "They're spelled out here, as well. You're agreeing to spend a minimum of ten hours going over details of our fictional relationship in preparation for the INS interview. When in public, you will behave at all times as if we are a couple this may include some physical interaction, which…" a faint pink tint came over her cheeks, was she embarrassed? Surely not. "I hope you will find… agreeable."

At that moment her attorney sighed loudly. "I feel compelled to point out that a contract for an illegal agreement will not hold up in court."

"The contract is a formality. Just to clarify the obligations we'd both have," Miss Montez said as Troy took them from her.

"Well," Troy said a little dumbfounded. "It sounds…" he wasn't sure how it sounded. "Can I have some time to think about this?"

"Of course," Miss Montez said briskly, "you can peruse the contract as thoroughly as you'd like, but I'm afraid we can't allow it to leave this room. For obvious reasons."

"Right." He said as he flipped through the pages, his eyes scanning the words as if I could possibly make sense of them. His head was swimming and he felt like he was in some kind of dream. Some part of him was convinced that at any moment he'd wake up.

"You can take a few days, if you like." She stood from her seat, "Come to my office anytime you want to look over it. I'll keep it in my desk."

"Thanks." Troy said quietly handing the documents back, "I think I'll come back. Maybe take some time to think about it."

"Good. It's important that we don't rush into this," she said with a small smile.

Troy left the office his feet numb, his face numb most of his body numb. He spent the rest of his work day in haze. Four million dollars? If he played his cards right, with the lifestyle he was already accustomed to, he could live off that money forever. Couldn't he? Probably, he had no idea. How much did someone need to survive? He'd never consider it. Never thought of life with the possibility of having a few million dollars laying around. Fantasies of course, who didn't have the occasional if I had a million dollars dream, but he'd never given it serious thought.

Maybe he could hire someone to manage the money. Miss Montez probably knew some people who could do that. Then with the right planning he'd probably never have to work another day in his life. He could pursue web designing on his own terms, instead of wasting away as a corporate drone.

But two years of marriage. Marriage to Miss Montez. His boss.

His mind had been so focused on the four million dollars he seemed to forget the odd little matter of what he would have to do to get it. If he decided to do this, and that was a huge if, it would be a long time before he saw a dime of that four million dollars. And in the meantime he'd be living with Miss Montez.

That night instead of sleeping he spent most of his time looking up marriage fraud on the internet and writing down a list of questions and concerns he had about this whole ordeal. Part of him couldn't believe he was taking this seriously. Then again how could he not take an offer like this seriously?

He moved around his apartment pacing back and forth wondering if it were all real. Miss Montez didn't seem like the kind of woman to joke about something like this, and surely having her lawyer present brought a matter of truth to the situation. Didn't it?

Sitting back at his computer he opened a browser and typed in Gabriella Montez in the Google search bar. He waited while his computer took an eternity to bring up the information. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, what he wanted to find or what he was hoping to find but he was contemplating marriage he should try to find out something about her shouldn't he?

The Google search brought up information about Software Solutions. How the Miss Montez was the youngest female president and CEO to run a multimillion dollar software company. He skimmed through the images provided. There weren't many of her where she looked like a normal human. Most of them had her in the regular business suit, speaking in seminars, standing off to the side during demonstrations, signing paper and sitting at a conference table.

The woman was stiff, the same facial expression and take-no-prisoners attitude every time. Troy let out a small sigh as he leaned back in his chair. He had nothing in common with this woman. No one would believe that they had magically fallen in love. He had nothing to offer her.

When he got to work the next morning he made a beeline for Miss Montez's office. He stopped in front of her assistant's desk. "I need to see Miss Montez," he said hoping he sounded official. "About a special project. She told me to stop by anytime."

Her lips thinned with annoyance as she pressed the button on the intercom, "Miss Montez. Mr. Bolton is here to see you."

"Thank you, please send him in."

Troy nodded as he looked at the door, his breathing suddenly quickened. He wasn't really sure what to expect on the other side of that door today. The last two days had been polar opposites and now he was sure he had absolutely no idea what to expect.

He walked in slowly shutting the padded door behind him. He was sure she must have looked up when he came into the room, but her head stayed down as she shuffled through a pile of paperwork. She dressed so oddly. Like a suit of armor. Maybe the vintage clothes were an attempt to look older? To be taken seriously. It couldn't possibly be a fashion statement.

Not that she was pretty. Or wouldn't be pretty with a hell of a lot more makeup and hell of a lot less clothing. The fastidious restraint of all those satin-covered buttons and dainty pearl earrings made Troy itch to pull her sleek pony tail of its practical band and mess it up a little. He just needed evidence that she was human and not some robot.

"Well, you're early Mr. Bolton."

Troy blinked a few times to remove the image of her swatting fighter jets from the sky out of his mind. "I get here at this time every day."

"Right," she said closing her eyes for a moment to collect herself. "Please. Take a seat."

He sat down in the chair across from her desk, reaching into his pocket for the piece of paper from last night. "I just have a few questions about this arrangement, I mean that is, if you haven't changed your mind?"

"I haven't."

"Right," Troy said eyeing her carefully. "I can come back later if this is a bad time."

"No, not at all," she said. "Please. Go on."

Troy looked down at his piece of paper and suddenly his questions sounded really stupid now that he was here in front of her. Sitting here under her cinnamon brown stare. Today she wore her hair in a pulled back ponytail. He was surprised by how long her hair was, and by how much of it she'd gotten into that bun she sported around the last few days.

Luckily the rational portion of his brain decided that his questions were still important. Moistening his lips he looked down at the piece of paper again and then back up at her. "There is only one copy of that contract, right?"

"Yes."

"Who's going to keep it?"

"My attorney, Mrs. Danforth is responsible for keeping the document private and secure. I know that this sounds like a conflict of interest since I'm paying her but I assure you that she will be representing us both equally in this arrangement. I made certain to add the terms of her payment into the contract as well so she is highly motivated to keep it safe."

"Yeah," Troy said looking back at his folded up piece of paper, "During the term of our marriage, while I'm living with you," Troy hesitated as he looked up at her for a moment. "I understand that I am supposed to act like your husband. Will there be any other restrictions or expectations that I should be aware of?"

Miss Montez shook her head, "None whatsoever," she said coolly. "So long as you appear to be in love with me, and faithful, I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to live the rest of your life as you choose."

God, this was so weird. His mouth was incredibly dry. "You said, you'll be supporting me. Will I have a daily allowance, or …?"

"My credit card," she said easily. "There is no limit. You'll be added as a joint member on the account and have your own card. You may use it to pay for anything you like."

"Are you crazy?"

Miss Montez smiled. "You see Mr. Bolton, this whole arrangement requires a mutual trust. In the time you've been employed here, I've seen no reason to believe that you are dishonest or that you would take undue advantage of situations."

She kept talking about his characteristics and he zoned out looking around the office, at her, past her. He was just a list to her. Nothing but column of characteristics that made sense for the situation. Then again he supposed that came with the territory. Being a successful businesswoman meant coldly evaluating situations, completely devoid of any emotional impulses.

It must be liberating, to not have to worry about other people's feelings.

Maybe this was for the best, maybe if he was going to enter a marriage of convenience, it should be with someone who was going to keep things professional and break it off at the end without any messiness.

There was also four million dollars at the end of this crazy train. That was a nice bonus.

"There was something else I wanted to address with you," she said catching his attention. "I meant to bring it up yesterday. If, during the term of our marriage, you were to meet someone-"

"I'm not worried about that," he said cutting her off quickly.

"Are you sure?"

Troy swallowed as he glanced up at her. It was the first time she seemed human about the entire thing. As if she herself didn't have every detail hammered out to the last crossed t and dotted i.

"Yes," Troy said with a certainty. "You have my word."

A small relief trickled through her and she visibly relaxed, "It's important that we keep things professional. With an arrangement like this, sometimes the lines can become blurred. But I hope we can both act as checks and balances against each other to ensure that things stay appropriate. You're clearly a sensible person-"

"Am I?"

Miss Montez jerked back her eyes narrowing, "Excuse me?"

"We've known each other for only 3 hours combined, I think it's a little soon for you to assume that I'm sensible." Troy said a little put off. "You could have any Joe and here I am. I mean, how do you know I'm not crazy, or unstable, or nuts, do you even remember what my first name is?"

"Because I've preformed an extensive background search on you. You're an only child of Jack and Lucile Bolton who raised you in a small town from New Mexico. I know that you graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology, in the top 15 percent of your class, moved here to New York into an apartment with your best friend Ryan Evans who married his college girlfriend and left you alone in your bachelor pad unable to barely afford your rent. You've been working for Software Solutions for nine weeks now where you hope to aspire and one day become a web designer." She rattled off with a raised brow. "Did I miss anything Troy?"

He shook his head, trying to ignore the uncomfortable prickling at the base of his neck. It almost felt like she was looking through him rather than at him. He was silent for a while, before realizing that she was waiting for some kind of verbal acknowledgement.

"Yeah," he said. "Of course, that… that sounds good," he said, his voice cracking a little.

"Nothing is official until we both sign the contract in the presence of my attorney."

"Right," he murmured.

"Is that all Mr. Bolton?"

He stood up, needing to get out of there. "Thank you, Miss Montez. I appreciate your time."

"I ought to be thanking you," she said, rising as well and extending her hand for him to take. "Take as much time as you need. I have a few months before they'll send the troops, so it's not horribly urgent."

Troy let out a huff, "I appreciate that, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep until I've made a decision." Possibly not even after that.

For a moment she looked a little bothered. "I never meant to cause you any distress," she said with a concerned expression. "I meant it when I said that refusing wouldn't impact your career. You can continue to work here as long as you like. You'll be treated like any other employee. And if you choose to leave I will always give you a positive reference. You have my word."

"I know," he said. "It's not that, I just … I guess I can't decided if the risk is worth the reward."

She considered this for a moment. "I won't pretend there isn't risk," she said finally. "But … it is not as great of a risk as you might think. I am in an advantageous position."

"What do you mean?"

Miss Montez shrugged a bit, "Money opens many doors, Mr. Bolton. As I'm sure you know."

"If it's a question of money, why do you need me at all?"

"I said 'many' doors. Not every door." She smirked.

"Point taken." Troy chuckled. "I'll get back to you when I've made my decision."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey guys, **_

_**I fixed the links on my website recently. So if you have been trying to get in touch with me and I was not responding the reason is because the e-mails were going to a closed out e-mail account. My apologies. As always feel free to visit my sites, check out the blog, other musings and contract me about whatever. I do check my e-mail and messages regularly. **_

"He's right you know, you have no idea who he is," Taylor said standing in Gabriella's kitchen and pouring two glasses of wine. "It's been a week and you still haven't heard anything."

Gabriella sat in her living room looking down at the paperwork that Taylor had brought in for her to review. "He's going to say yes," she said picking up a non-disclosure agreement. "Do you really think we need him to sign a non-disclosure agreement?"

"Do you want a tell-all book on the shelves?" Taylor gaffed as she made her way to the couch, a glass in each hand. "Gabs, If, and I use that term loosely. If this guy says yes, he's going to be in your life for two years. He'll be looking in your medicine cabinet, going through your dresser, watching what you eat, if you snore, he'll know. If you have a case of the runs, he'll know. Let's just make sure he's the only one who does."

Gabriella hadn't thought about that. She really hadn't thought about any of this. A week ago she wasn't even getting married. She took the offered glass and brought it to her lips. Welcoming the cool taste of the liquid she let it swish around in her mouth before swallowing it.

"What about sex?"

Gabriella eyes darted from the agreement to Taylor and she crossed her arms over her chest in discomfort. "That's not happening."

Taylor eyed her carefully as she brought the wine glass up to her lips. After a sip she brought the glass down and placed it on the table. "Your virginity might be a tiny problem."

"I fail to see how."

"Did you see him?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Yes, I saw him."

"Well he's obviously not a virgin Gab," Taylor said in a soft voice, "I don't want you to get taken advantage of."

"I won't."

"Are you sure?" Taylor asked reaching for another sheet, "I think we should require him to get some blood work done. At least then we'll know he's clean and we have nothing to worry about."

"I'm not going to sleep with him Taylor."

"Why him then?"

Gabriella placed her glass on the table and stood up, "We've been over this."

"Yes and your reason is bullshit."

Gabriella's mouth fell open, of all the people on her payroll Taylor was the only one that spoke to her that way. They'd been friends forever, longer than college. They met in high school and bonded over a need to thrive. There was nothing that Gabriella did or didn't do that Taylor didn't already know about.

"I can control him, he needs the money and he wants his job," Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "I wouldn't trust anybody else."

"You like him. Just admit it."

Gabriella adjusted her sweater and pulled it over herself a little tighter. "I don't."

"It's okay to like him Gab, you have to be married to him for two years. If you don't like the package why bother?"

Gabriella shrugged as extended her arms. "I'm not like other girls Taylor, you know this." Normally the idea of Taylor's over protective nature would be endearing but today it struck a nerve. "Maybe I'm just meant to devote my life to my work."

"Now that's just crazy talk," Taylor huffed.

Gabriella picked up her wine glass and brought up to her lips taking a larger sip. Married. Her. She was going to be married. If only her mother could see her now. Turns out she ended up needing a man to save the day after all. Some maintenance man in blue jeans to come to her rescue. Some kind of independent woman she turned out to be.

"What did he sound like the last time you talked to him?"

Gabriella lowered her glass and looked out at the city from her penthouse view. "He's going to say yes."

By Friday evening he was completely drained. And for the first time in a while, he wasn't looking forward to the break. He was going to have the whole weekend to mull this situation over in his head, trying to figure out his next move. Whatever decision he made he was certainly going to have to live with for the rest of his life.

Grimly he became aware of a rattling noise coming from somewhere, but he tried to ignore it as he approached the world's longest traffic light. He wasn't sure if it was really longer than others or if it just seemed like it was, because it was only a few blocks from his apartment. But either way, he gritted his teeth when he saw it turn red as he approached it.

The rattling noise grew louder as he sat there. "Come on Big Red," he mumbled tapping his knuckles against the dashboard, hoping it was some loose piece of something that didn't matter. The car was getting old. "Don't do this to me."

The rattling turned into a grinding noise, and as he let off the brake and pushed down on the accelerator, he felt the car lurch to a start, right before it grounded to a sickening halt in the middle of the intersection.

"Perfect."

Troy stood at the counter, leaning on it impatiently letting the stink of oil and rubber fill his nostrils. He'd been here for an hour already waiting to hear what the verdict was. He couldn't take it anymore. He just knew the news about Big Red wasn't going to be good and there was no way he could afford a major repair right now.

When the man covered in grease and dirt finally did appear from the back Troy could barely focus on what he had to say. The few words that penetrated the haze in his brain didn't sound good. "Badly degraded." "Major repairs." "Payment plan."

Numbly he pulled out the only credit card he had that wasn't already maxed out and handed it over to make his first deposit. As soon as the man disappeared again Troy dropped his head as he tried to plan out the next few months of life. He could live of Twinkies for a while? Cup of noodles? He racked his brain… water and free coffee at work.

He could do this. He could make the minimum payments. Hell, if he nixed the Twinkies he could probably pay this off by the end of next year. Sinking into a seat nearby, he put his head in his hands. He could ask his dad for more money? No. He couldn't do that to his father. They had their own finances to take care of. They'd done enough.

Of course, there was another option.

As he walked home he lost himself in the fantasy of being a billionaire's husband. Even if it was just for two years. He's have his payment after that, which would be a dream come true in and of itself. But to live for two whole years without having to worry about money for once? That was beyond anything he could ever imagine.

Once he had his own money things would be different, he'd be constantly worried about how to spend it, where to invest it, how to save it, giving some to parents so they could enjoy life. But for the time he was being a kept husband he'd be completely worry free. If he needed anything… anything at all he could have it couldn't he?

Climbing the stoop to his apartment building he considered his paycheck to paycheck lifestyle. He was tired of it. Always trying to scrap enough money together to float his credit card bills for another month. Between his student loan payments, rent and utilities, most of his paycheck left his hands before he even had a chance to think about where to spend it.

But it didn't have to be that way anymore.

By the time he was inside his apartment he had already pulled up Miss Montez's personal phone number, something he suspected she rarely gave to anyone. She was anxious to know his decision. She had been trying to hide it as best as she could but he could tell how badly she needed him to say yes. Part of him wanted to say yes just to help her out. Money and his risk be damn.

But that wouldn't be wise.

She answered on the first ring.

"Hello?" Her voice was smooth, soft and something inside him perked at the sound.

"Hello, Miss Montez? It's uh… it's Troy Bolton."

There was just a moment's hesitation. "I think maybe… you ought to get used to calling me Gabriella." He could hear her smiling down the phone. The fact that he was calling her out of the blue gave away his hand.

"Okay," he said a little less confident. "Have the contract ready for me on Monday."

"Of course."

"Gabriella," he said testing the name on his lips surprise at how strange it felt. "I know that at the moment this is just a verbal agreement, but can you do something for me?"

"Anything."

Troy frowned, he was going to hate this. This was going to take getting used too. "I need a ride to work," he winced, "My car broke down, and it's going to be in the shop for at least a week."

"Of course, Troy. I'll send a town car to pick you up on Monday morning. And don't worry about paying for the repairs, I'll see that it's done."

"Yeah?" Troy was caught off guard. "Just like that?"

"I'll see you on Monday, Troy."

"Yeah," Troy said in a daze. "I'll see you on Monday then."

As soon as he hung up the phone he regretted the action. Quite frankly that woman scared the shit out of him. How awkward would it be to live with Miss Montez. Gabriella. They were basically strangers. Despite their little charade, it wasn't like he was about to walk around naked in front of her. Or her in front of him. At least he hoped not. He might not have many morals but he did have some.

Living alone had it's perks, he'd become used to a certain amount of privacy when he was home. Being around someone all the time would definitely take some adjusting to. But then again he would be alone during the day. When she was at work.

There was that. The idea that he was essentially being turned into a house pet. What would it be like living a life where he wasn't obligated to go anywhere or do anything? Aside from the fancy dinners and restaurants he assumed he'd have to dress up for and escort Miss Montez too.

He could go back to web design, take another class. Take on a client. Forget about the commercial crap and create the kind of stuff he really wanted to. Help small business, maybe even draw a little like he used to back in his freshmen year.

A laugh escaped him and he had to reel himself back. He was getting way, way ahead of himself. He was still going to have to get used to being married. Even if it was only temporary, he has going to be a husband. From the little bit that he already knew about Miss Montez there was no doubt in his mind she had everything plotted out.

She knew what their first kiss was, probably planned out his spontaneous proposal and when they'd run over to Vegas or the judges offices to get married or wherever it was that rich people preferred to tie the knot.

The full weight of the situation hit him and for a full moment he felt lightheaded with panic. He needed a drink, making his way to the fridge he opened it and found his options limited. Milk, expired yogurt, a bag of carrots, and a box of leftovers from Kelsi and Ryan's house. Troy closed the fridge and moved to his living room. He just needed to breathe and relax. He hadn't signed anything yet. He was still a free man.

Even though he knew he wouldn't go back on his word he felt a little at ease with the thought.

Monday morning Troy stopped at his desk to log in before heading upstairs. He wasn't really sure what the company policy was but he did want to keep up the appearance that he was working as if nothing had changed. Getting up he grabbed his badge and began making his way out of the IT station only to be stopped by Chris.

"Hey Troy,"

Troy froze almost as if caught red handed, "Hey Chris."

"Where you off to so early?" Chris asked as he lifted his red coffee mug to his lips.

"I have to see Miss Montez," Troy said with a slight hesitation. It would be better this way, his hesitation would probably fit in with the fictional progression of their relationship.

"You've been spending a lot of time in her office lately," Chris said with a raised eyebrow as if he was waiting for more details.

"Yeah." Troy tucked his badge into his back pocket and started making his way to the elevator, "I'll see you later Chris."

"Right," he said realizing the conversation was over.

When Troy made it into Miss Montez's office she was actually smiling when he walked in. That was a first. Her attorney was there sitting in one of the chairs in front of the mahogany desk.

"Good Morning Troy. Please, have a seat."

"Right," Troy came over to the small table where the papers were set up. "So we're doing this," he said as a wave of disbelief settled over him for the sixteenth time that morning.

"We are," Miss Montez said as she lifted the pen and handed it to him.

Troy swallowed with some difficulty as he put the pen to paper. He could almost feel his throat closing up as she pointed to the spots where he was supposed to sign. She sighed after him, with an elegant flourish, and then handed the whole thing over to her lawyer.

"Thank you," she said reaching across the desk to shake his hand. Which seemed like an odd gesture, considering the intimacy of their arrangement. "You won't regret your decision, I promise."

Troy huffed, "You can't promise that," he said with a small smirk. "But your welcome Miss Montez."

"Gabriella, please."

"Right," he said with a pause. "Gabriella."

He spent the rest of his morning messing around with jobs here or there in a daze of wonder. He wasn't sure about how people in the office would react. If he would have to endure inane congratulations from everyone, about half of which he'd assume would actually be genuine. The other half might think this was all some sugar mama get rich quick attempt. Which, it was. Kind of.

Troy got up from under a desk he was currently working under and dusted off his pants, "The wire in the back just came lose, I tightened it. Your monitor shouldn't flicker anymore."

"Thank you Troy," the woman said with a polite smile. "You're such a sweetheart."

"It's not a problem," Troy returned the smile and made his way back downstairs, he was going to have to tell his parents. What was he going to tell his parent? How was he going to tell them? Should he tell them?

"Troy?"

Everything in his mind stilled and then faded as he heard that familiar voice. Turning around he forced himself to meet her gaze. She standing there in her polish business suit her hair pulled back and twisted on top of her head into some elaborate bun. She was staring at him like it was the most natural thing in the world, her arm crossed comfortably under her breast pushing them up and offering a slight bit of cleavage through her button up top.

"Good afternoon Miss Montez," he said. His eyes darted around sure that everyone in the neighborhood of cubicles had slowly rotated their chairs around to stare at them. Anyone currently passing though the vicinity had stopped a little distance away, pretending to be interested in a picture on the wall or newspaper clipping on a cubical door way just to listen to their conversation.

This was probably exactly what she wanted, but Troy couldn't stop himself from wishing this was more private.

"Do you have plans for lunch today?"

He shook his head, "No, I don't."

"Wonderful, I hope you'll join me in my office around twelve-thirty. We'll order in. Whatever you like. I want to discuss some new ideas I have about the project."

"Right," he said with a nod, "I'll be there."

"Good," she said, seeming proud of herself.

Troy let out a sigh as he made his way towards the elevator. There was no doubt about it. He'd have to tell his parents, if he didn't he'd risk the chance of them finding out from somewhere else at this rate. Looking at his wrist watch he let out a sigh and brought a hand to his neck once the doors were closed. This was going to be the longest two years of his life.

Gabriella sat at her desk patiently watching the time until she heard the knock on her door. Her Assistant Tracy led Troy into her office and she couldn't stop the small smile that pulled at her lips. "You came."

Troy paused, "You invited me?"

"Yes," she said feeling a little foolish. "I know I did."

"So I came." Troy clarified.

So now she had to spend her whole lunch break sitting across the desk from him. How was she going to avoid blushing or giggling like an idiot the whole time? Or worst staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights? Gabriella looked down at her keyboard. She hated being reduced to an airheaded schoolgirl. If she was going to be spending majority of her time with him she was going to have to find a way to overcome this little problem.

"How does Shadle's sound?"

Troy raised a brow, "That place is very…" when he didn't finish he looked up at the assistant and let out a sigh.

"My treat, of course." Did he always think about money? That was going to be another problem.

"I've never eaten there before."

"It's wonderful there steaks are to die for."

Troy remain silent as he took a seat in the chair in front of her. Looking over at Tracy she smiled and gave a small nod, "He'll have a twelve-ounce Porterhouse with mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. Medium rare. And could you please get me a Cesar salad with grilled shrimp?"

"Yes Miss Montez."

Gabriella looked down at her computer and quickly closed out her files and then collapsed the screen down and moved it to the side. Once the door was closed behind Tracy she looked up at Troy who looked sorely out of place in her office.

"So do you eat lunch at this place often?"

"I promise you my life isn't that strange, you'll get use it." She stated as she adjusted her bracelet. "Tell me, Troy," she said hesitantly. "Do you own anything other than denim pants?"

Troy looked down at his pants, "Is that going to be a problem?"

"We can get you some new clothes if you like?"

Troy let out a sigh, "Sure."

Gabriella was quiet for a long moment, "Are you going to tell your parents?"

Troy nodded, "I think I have to," he said rubbing his hands on his pants. "I mean incase the INS people talk to them."

"Oh right," Gabriella fiddled with her sleeves for a moment, uncomfortable under his gaze.

"When are we supposed to…"his voice tailed off.

Gabriella looked up at him questioningly, "I'm sorry?"

"When is the Big Day?" he asked in hushed tone.

"Oh," Gabriella said reaching for her phone and opening her calendar, "We should probably pick a day for that shouldn't we. Which means we should also set a date for our first official date because I believe people are starting to talk." She paused for a moment looking at her schedule for tomorrow evening. "How long do you think it will be before you ask me?"

"Excuse me?" Troy's brow shot up.

Her eyes came back up to his blue ones and she bit her lip, "To get married. You're still going to ask me aren't you?"

Troy's entire body went still, "You want me to ask you?"

"Isn't that how it works? A nice dinner, the ring in a little strawberry tart?"

After three more beats of silence Troy shrugged his shoulders, "Fine. Is two weeks alright?"

"That will do," she said pleased as she looked at her phone and made an appointment for their first date. "We can go out tomorrow, I know a nice place, and I'll send the town car for you at seven."

His expression narrowed as he brought a hand up to the back of his neck and nervously rubbed at the skin. "Is it fancy?" he asked. "I mean I don't have anything really to wear for that so I'm just asking in case I have to buy something."

"Oh," she reached into her desk and pulled out her purse, she pulled out a business card and handed it to him across the table. "Taylor's husband Chad owns a wonderful boutique, you should find everything you need there. I'll call and let him know you're coming, he has my card on file. Buy whatever you like and please don't hold yourself back, you can never have too many suits."

"Thanks," he said a little deadpanned.

"I think people already think we're dating," she said looking up at him with a big smile. "Gossip in the office is spreading."

"Yeah," he said shifting in his chair as he put the card away. "I'm sure."

They made a few other plans before Tracy came back with the food. They ate quietly her eyes drifting to his mouth, watching the way it closed around each bite, the way his tongue flicked out to lick his lips clean. She seriously had a problem on her hands when it came to her maintenance man.

She tried to steer the conversation to small talk during their meal. They covered everything from the unseasonably warm weather to a funny news article she read that morning. He was quiet. Not at all like the babbling man she'd found in her office when they first met. And she wasn't sure why but there was a small disappointment inside her about that.

When they had finished their meal she watched him stand to get up and she followed suit, "Should I walk you to your desk or something?"

"Oh god no."

Gabriella frowned, a little caught off guard by his quick response. "Oh." She'd overstepped a boundary. She must have. Did he not want people at work to know about them? She never asked she just assumed. He probably didn't want his supervisors to treat him any differently or be judged by his peers.

"Look this is a little uncomfortable-"

"You're right. I'm coming on too strong, I shouldn't have-"

"Shut up," as soon as the words were out he winced, "I'm so sorry."

Gabriella bit her lip, unsure if she should say something. No one had ever told her to shut up. She couldn't remember the last time she been told to be quiet.

"I'm not a pet alright?" he said quietly. "If this is going to work out you have to pull back a little. Just let me take it in and let me make a move. Can you do that?"

A move? Gabriella's brow shot up as she wrapped her brain around it. He wanted to make a move? "Ok."

"Thank you."

He turned to walk towards the office door.

"Troy?"

He stopped with his hand on the knob, looking back at her. "Yes?"

"What move?"

"You'll know it when you see it," he said with a small smirk before opening the door and seeing himself out.


	4. Chapter 4

Troy was painfully aware of how out of his element he was the moment he stepped into the store. Everything on display seemed so expensive and fragile he almost didn't want to touch it. He could only image that one shirt from a place like this was his rent for the month.

"Can I help you?" a dark skinned man came out from the back with a hand tucked into his pocket. His smile was forced as his demeanor guarder as he took in Troy's appears from where he stood.

Troy felt himself cringed a little. "I need a suit."

"Obviously," he said in low tone.

Troy stared at the man who stared back at him, both men watching the other with a careful gaze sizing the other up. "Look, I don't shop in places like this, but Miss Montez insisted that I come here."

At the mention of her name his features softened, "Troy?"

"Yes."

The man's demeanor changed, "Why didn't you say something sooner," the man walked towards him. "My name is Chad Danforth, I own the boutique."

Troy nodded and took the man's offered hand, "Troy Bolton, I'm dating Gabriella." God that sounded weird. It was strange. Saying her name. Admitting they were in a relationship. It was all so weird to him.

"I'm well aware of who you are," Chad smiled knowingly, "It's a pleasure to meet you, I've already pulled a few pieces for you. Let me know what you think Gabs wasn't sure about your sizes but I'm sure we can find it if you like it."

"Gabs?" Troy mumbled more to himself as he followed Chad into a backroom.

"She's something else isn't she?" Chad said reaching for some shirts on the rack. "I mean when Taylor told me about what was going on I thought crazy. But after a thought, hell it's the only thing that makes sense."

Troy took the shirts and waited as Chad handed him some jackets and pants. "I guess."

"There's no other way that woman would have a love life."

Troy nodded a little uncomfortable talking about it. Talking about her. Talking out in the open.

"But you'll do."

"Excuse me?" Troy shook his head and looked at Chad questioningly.

"You've got the looks, you seem real and you might be just what she needs." Chad said turning him around and pushing him into the dressing room.

"And what is it that she needs?"

Chad huffed, "that woman just needs a little ruffle under the features. If you catch my drift."

Troy was pulling his shirt over his head when he paused and thought about just what that meant. Was that part of the contract? Was she expecting him to ruffle her feathers? Did he want to? Would he want to? She was attractive, but he interested?

He began shifting into the other shirt and buttoning it. He changed his pants and stepped out of the fitting room out into the room with mirrors. There was something different about an entire outfit that could probably pay three months of his rent. Troy lifted his arm and reached for the price tag only to be stopped by Chad.

"Actually I'm under strict orders not to let you look at any price tags while you're here," he said gently tugging it off the shirt. "This is a great fit."

Troy stared at him in disbelief, "this is crazy."

"This is your new life," Chad responded as he looked up at Troy while he bent to take his inline seam measurement. "The places you'll be going to, the people you'll meet. They'll judge you before you can even smile and say hello. That's why it's important that we upgrade you're wardrobe."

"But I'm nobody?"

"You stopped being a simple nobody the moment you walked into her office. Now your Troy Bolton the man who has stolen New York's very own Elsa."

"Elsa?"

"Ice queen," Chad said standing up again and lifting Troy's arms so he can measure the sleeve. "Frozen? My daughter is in love with that movie, at the moment. It can be addicting."

"Right," Troy said letting out a shaking breathe, "So she's a big deal?"

"Gabriella Montez is known for her cut throat business tendency, cold demeanor, and all work and no play attitude."

A small smile pulled at his lips, "She's not that bad."

"I never said she was, I'm simply telling you the word on the street." Chad turned him around with a forceful hold. "I'm also telling you that she my wife's best friends and if she gets deported or heartbroken even these measurements won't be able to identify you."

Troy stilled as he glanced down at Chad who holding the measuring tape across his chest and staring him dead in the eye. "Right," Troy said nervously.

"Great, now let's make you pretty," Chad said bringing a hand up and giving Troy a playful slap on the cheek.

Seven o'clock came around and he was waiting downstairs in his tailored to fit suit. The grey fabric was surprisingly comfortable and he tucked in the white shirt as Chad had instructed. However there was a minor irritation on the tip of his tongue, lingering ever since he left the boutique. Something about Chad's demeanor when he'd first arrived, it was more than he could stomach. He didn't want to spend the next two years pretending to be something that he wasn't. But he'd already signed the contract.

The town car pulled up and man got out of the car, "Good evening Mr. Bolton."

"Hey," Troy said watching as the man came around to open his door. It was a weird feeling being picked up in a town car. A feeling that wasn't getting any easier either. For the last three days Gabriella had insisted that he continue to use her driver.

"You look rather dashing this evening sir."

"Thanks," Troy murmured, "Let's hope Gabriella agrees."

The driver smiled and cleared his throat as Troy went to get into the car making him pause, "What?" he prompted when he remained quiet.

"Forgive sir, I shouldn't be saying anything."

"But…" Troy said with a nervous grin, afraid he'd missed a button.

"I've been suspecting there was something going on between you two," he said with a wide smile.

Troy relaxed as he let out a laugh, been suspecting? How long had the driver even been aware of his existence. "Well you've got great instincts," Troy said tapping the man on the shoulder before getting into the car.

Once the man had gotten into the car as well they were pulling away from the curb and Troy tried his best to relax by watching the houses go by in the window. "So where are we going anyway?"

"Daniel," he replied.

Troy had heard of the restaurant before it was a French restaurant where the plates were $125 and Chef's tasting menu $220. Five stars all the best reviews. "Wow," he managed after a moment of silence, "Fancy."

"Well, that's how Miss Montez is when she really likes someone. No expense spared. She must really want to impress you."

"I guess so," Troy said leaning further into his seat.

Gabriella fidgeted with her clutch as she got out of the car, it had been a long time since she'd been on a date. Even a pretend one. Stepping out into the warm night air she looked around the entrance to find lots of people mingling around. There was plenty of greenery, from the tall planted trees at the doors entrance to the small plants that seem to be glowing with the help of the lights underneath cast a warm shadow. Some people were smoking, some chatting. It was the usual place to be seen.

Her red dress hung close to her curves and the small straps that held up the dress left her shoulders and neck exposed to the night. She wasn't sure what to wear for a first official date. Wasn't even sure what to do about her hair. She'd brushed it out and decided to leave it down giving her a more intimate feel than when she wore her work clothes.

"Wow." The breathless gasp caught her attention and she turned around to find Troy standing by one of the plotted plants. He looked different. His body more defined, his arms bigger, shoulders broader. That was him. Her date. The man who was supposed to marry her. Her breath caught at his beauty. His blue eyes wondered over body and she felt the shivers like a physical touch.

"Hi," her voice was a breathless whisper. She barely recognized it.

Troy smiled and he placed a hand on the small of her back leaning into place a small kiss on her cheek. "That dress is stunning," his breath tickled her cheek as he pulled away.

Her cheeks heated at once and she looked up at him with hesitation, unsure if he were putting on a show or actually sincere in his compliment. They headed inside and as she requested there was a table waiting for them. The room was bright, the table cloths glowing white and the staff wore suits as they carried trays around.

"This place is nice," Troy said keeping her close to him as they made their way to the table.

"It is," she said as she watched him stand while the waiter pulled out her chair. He stood standing until she sat down. A small smile pulled at her lips as she looked down at the table cloth and table setting. At least he had manners. "I ordered a reservation for the tasting menu."

"Wonderful," he said kindly.

They sat quietly as the waiter poured their wine leaving the bottle behind in a bucket by the table.

"Do you date often?" she asked placing her clutch off to the side and grabbing her glass.

"No, not really," he said with a frown. "Dating is expensive and you need money for it."

"You worry about money a lot," she said raising a brow. "This offer came at just the right time I presume."

Troy let out a sigh, "Sorry." His tone soften, "I swear, I'll stop talking about money." He lifted his glass and took a long sip.

"I don't mind."

"Yeah, well it also doesn't make me a fun date," he said quietly setting the glass back down.

"You're not having fun?" she asked a little bit disappointed.

Troy let out a chuckled, "Maybe," he paused for a moment "Why don't we get to know each other?" he murmured leaning forward just so she could hear him.

"Why?"

The question caught him off guard, "I like to at least talk to my wives before we marry? Call me crazy. I'd just assume you'd want to get know each other."

"Well I went through making this arrangement so that I could avoid all of the baggage that comes with a traditional relationship."

"Baggage… you think finding the person you're meant to be with is baggage? You can't really believe that?"

"I just think that people are so desperate to be in love that they'll lie to themselves to be happy for a while. I don't want to do that," she said picking up her wine glass and bringing it to her lips for a sip.

"Everyone," Troy began, "no matter how hard they try to hide it, wants to find love. Usually those who try hardest to seem uninterested are the ones who want love the most."

"Well I'm sorry but it's just not the case here," she said looking down into her wine glass. "I only need a husband so that I may continue to live in the states. I am under no false pretenses that this is real life fairy tale," she whispered.

Troy raised a brow and slowly reached his hand across the table resting it over hers and apparently catching her off guard because the moment their skin touched she jerked violently almost slouching wine over the rim of her glass.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again.

Troy's hand recoiled and he sat up straighter, "you know for this to work out, we have to touch?" he said with a small smirk, "Hell, we might even have to make out a little."

Gabriella stopped for a moment and thought it through. It had been a long time since she had been on a real date. And she certainly never been on one with someone like Troy. She felt a little tremble in her hand as she thought about it. Suddenly, she was all nerves, and she didn't want him to know. She clamped down on her left hand with her right hoping like hell he couldn't notice the spinning sensation happening inside her and the flood of heat wafting into her cheeks. Quickly she reached for her glass and took a sip before placing it on the table with a clink. "Of course."

"It's alright," he said jokingly. "I swear, I don't have cooties."

Gabriella felt her heart flutter. "Oh no, I'm not worried about that."

"Then what is it?"

Gabriella frowned as she looked at him, "Look, you seem like a genuinely nice person," she offered. "If you don't want to do this marriage thing, I completely understand. Believe it or not, I'm not thrilled that it has come to this either, but it would solve both our problems. I work long hours. I'm hardly ever home, and I have a relatively big fortune to drawn upon. I not very good company Mr. Bolton, I prefer my privacy and my work over most things. But by agreeing to this you would no longer worry or want for anything. "

Troy nodded suddenly seeming a lot more understanding, "Don't you wish you had someone to spend time with for real?"

Gabriella laughed, "What isn't real about this evening?" she met him eye for eye and squared her shoulders. "Just because I'm being honest with you about what I need doesn't mean out time together isn't real. Why shouldn't that be enough? It's not like we're missing anything."

Troy leaned in, his hand taking hers in his, "I'm not going to back out on you. So you can stop freaking out about that. I do understand that you have your hang ups. I have mine." He was quiet for a moment. "You know, you didn't have to bring me here," he smiled, "We could have just said we went here."

Gabriella eyes watched her hand in his, "Trust me, in the circles that I hang out with. It's better that we back up our story with as many truths as possible. Everyone has their first date here. It's all part of the backstory."

Troy's eyes seemed to watch her with amusement as he lifted his glass to his lips.

"What?"

"You're something else," he murmured.

At that moment the waiter came to their table placing the first course in front of them. When he was gone Gabriella proceeded to eat her meal grateful for the interruption.

"So is there anything I should know?" Troy asked as he examined his plate cautiously. "They're going to bring more food aren't they?" he added.

Gabriella let out a quiet laugh, "Yes, there is more food coming. Four dishes." She looked at her own plate at the decorative salad that would do very little to fill her appetite but looked very pleasing to the eye. These dishes were all then same, by the of the night they would have sampled four dishes of the best that the chief had to offer, but she might still have to make a midnight trip to her fridge.

Troy nodded looking a little relieved as he speared the few pieces of lettuce on his plate and ate them. "So what about your parents?" he said between chews.

Gabriella winced, "I never knew my father, my mother was a feminist she wanted to raise a child on her own because she could," she said gathering a smaller bite on her fork. "She died two years ago."

"Sorry," Troy said after swallowing his meal.

"It's alright," she shrugged with a frown, "People die all the time, its normal."

"So you didn't get along with her?"

"I did."

Troy raised a brow, "Just not the sentimental type then?"

"Do you get along with your parents?"

"I do," he responded with a small smile. "I'm guessing the topic of your mother isn't up for discussion."

"I just don't want to talk about it."

"That's fine," Troy leaned back in his chair. "This is very educational," he managed to learn so much and at the same time absolutely nothing about the woman sitting beside him.

"I think it's best for appearances if you come home with me tonight." Gabriella said in a low voice as she placed her fork down to the side.

Troy eyes opened wider, "You want me to go home with you?" and things kept getting weirder.

"Well by this time, we've been having an affair for a few weeks now. It only makes sense you would come home with me after our first date if only because it's hardly our first date."

The waiter came by their table to collect their dishes, and Troy was quiet for a moment as he thought about their situation. This was awkward, the entire situation was strange. Could he put up with two years of awkward?

"You'll have your own room," she said once the waiters were gone. "There's a lock on the door and everything." She looked shamed, guilty, almost as if she were a step away from begging him. Her brown eyes wouldn't look up at him. Instead they remained on the table cloth as if it held all the secrets to the world.

Troy's features softened, "Gabriella," he whispered. "I'm going to touch you're knee." He leaned forward his hand reaching out slowly and resting just above her knee, "I have no plans to take advantage of you, so you don't have to be afraid of me. Right now everyone here thinks I'm telling you about all the naughty things I'm going to do to you when we get back to your apartment. Smile back, Sweetheart."

She did as she was told even as the goose bumps rose all over her skin. "It's a good thing the acoustics are so bad in here," she mumbled quietly as she slipped her foot out of her shoe and rested it lightly on top of his. The tablecloths were short enough that someone might see, if they happened to look. His eye brows went up a fraction of an inch. She wasn't sure if it was the situation, the man, the wine, or a combination of all three. But she felt different.

"I hope their imaginations are dirty enough," he said with smirk, "Although I don't think I have to say much to make you blush, in fact I bet…" his eyes drifted down to her lips mulled over the curve of her chin and down to her neck.

She was as still as possible as she watched him, flooded with excitement, fear and foolishness. Surely she was too old to be playing these games. But damn if it wasn't fun.

He leaned forward as the waiters came by but that didn't stop him. He used the back of his hand to sweep her hair back and for a moment she thought he was going to place a kiss on her neck. Swirls of excitement began to hum just under her skin and she practically stop breathing in the anticipation of his touch. What would it feel like? Would it tickle? Would feel as good as she imagined?

"Bite your bottom lip," he whispered.

She did as she was told her eyes lowered waiting, wondering, expecting his touch. But it never came.

In that moment of disappointment he sat up and she almost followed but had enough self control to clamp tightly onto herself. The last thing she needed to do was make fool of herself by believing that any of this was real.

"So tell me more about your place?" Troy said taking a deep breath as he adjusted his collar. "Is it huge?"

"It's comfortable."

Troy nodded, "I won't get lost on my way to bathroom will I?"

Gabriella gaffed, "Hardly, it's attached to your bedroom."

Troy nodded as he looked down at the new plate he hadn't even realized had been brought to the table. "Of course it is."

Later after their meal Gabriella let him help her out of her seat and lead her outside, his hand resting on the small of her back. She imagined for a moment what it would be like if all of this were real. If she could lean into him like she really wanted to and inhale the smell of collogue because she couldn't get it out of her mind since he leaned at dinner.

She was more than sure that their relationship would be described as a "whirlwind." She'd have to make things look believable if they were to uphold image. They were outside waiting for the town car when without giving it another thought she pressed her body against his, their side locking up perfectly in sync, one interlocking curve after the other. She was instantly surrounded with the smell of his collogue. His arm came up around her waist and hugged her closer to him. And it felt amazingly good.

"You alright Sweetheart?" he asked in a low whisper.

"Yes," she responded back in a daze.

A soft laugh rumbled from his lips and she looked up at him curious as to what was suddenly so funny. She couldn't help but flinch at little at the thought that he might be laughing at her and how ridiculous she was behaving. Leaning on a man she hardly knew. Just so she could smell him. She stood up right and adjusted herself. "I don't see what's so funny."

Troy let out a sigh, "I don't know," he said with shrug. "Just everything."

When she didn't respond he pulled her close to him again and she landed against him with a soft thud. "Mr. Bolton-"

His lips pressed against hers and she was taken by surprise. She hadn't expected his kiss, hadn't planned on it. But it was happening; his hand was gently caressing the edge of her jaw as he deepened the kiss. Plunging and pillaging her mouth for everything she had. His other hand roped around her waist pulling her towards him, against him, bringing them pelvis to pelvis.

His actions however unexpected were surprisingly welcomed and she arched herself to meet him at a better angle. Bringing her arms up she wrapped them around his neck and she let fingers snake through his hair briefly.

She'd been kissed a lot of times in her life, by many men privileged or not who had wanted to sweep her off her feet. Who had wanted to leave her breathless and wanted the opportunity to come home with her, but none of them had kissed her like this before.

He pulled away a little short of breath as he glanced down at her features, "Hey," he murmured softly. The look in his eyes was different. In the low light, his eyes looked dark. It was impossible to tell if his pupils had really grown large, or if perhaps something else was growing-

_No,no, no_. Gabriella abruptly pulled away at the sight of the town car and her driver. How long had he been there? How much did he see?

"We should get going."

And just like that the spell was broken.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hello Readers, **_

_**Quick blurb! This year I am patriating in Walk Now for Autism Speaks, which is an inspirational and impactful opportunity to raise money and awareness to help change the future for all those who struggle with autism. Participating in Walk Now for Autism Speaks (May 16**__**th**__**, 2015) empowers you to make a difference and provides you with an opportunity to honor someone with autism. I'm walking for Olivia, she's an out of this world kind of kid. She loves superheroes, cats, bunnies and going on adventures. She is the daughter of dear friends of mine and we are doing our best to raise awareness and gather a parade of superheroes to walk with us for Autism Speaks. Look us up at #LightItUpForLiv we're on Facebook and Instagram. **_

Her place was downtown at one those high-rise buildings with a doorman. An actual doorman. Troy nodded towards man as they walked by. He had a feeling Miss Montez rarely had company. The look he received from the doorman as they passed confirmed it.

He also had a feeling that if it weren't for the deception she wouldn't have her arm linked through his at the moment either. She hadn't said a word after they got into the car and that made him worry that he might have possibly messed up. Even though he was more than sure she was giving as much as getting during that little exchange outside the restaurant.

As soon as the elevator doors closed she unlinked her arm from him as he expected and she took a good size step away from him. If he hadn't of let out a breath himself he would have sworn he heard her audible relax.

The elevator ride seemed to take ages. A heavy silence permeated the space. Everyone thought they were an item. There was no going back now. They couldn't undo what had already been done. Surprisingly enough there was a certain perverse joy to the whole thing he hadn't expected. A thrill inside him at the chase of woman so recoiled and off limits yet so responsive to him.

"I expect you want an apology for that kiss."

Her arms tightened as she brought them up and over her chest. "That would be nice."

"I know I _should_ be sorry. Will that do?"

Her mouth fell open slightly and she glanced at him from where she stood.

"I mean, isn't the goal here to make people believe we're involved?"

They finally reached her floor she stepped out into the hallway without a word and he followed. She seemed slightly bothered. He wasn't sure what he'd said or done to offend her. The kiss surely couldn't have been the root of her feelings. If there were meant to play the role of husband and wife surely she expected that they would have to kiss at some point.

She unlocked the door and they both step inside.

The front entrance of her apartment looked like a magazine's furniture showroom. Her heals clacked on the polished floor as she entered dropping her keys into a small glass bowl. Troy stood at the entrance to her apartment. His eyes taking stock of her design choices, the blacks and red, the white leather couches, her joint living room and dining room space. Everything designed to draw the eye to the wall of windows behind it all over looking the city at night. It took his breath away.

His eyes returned to where she was leaning against her stainless steel kitchen counter and removing her shoes. Once they were off she wiggled her toes and the act so simple and innocent made him instantly regret kissing her.

"Can I get you something?" She offered him.

Troy's eyes came back up from her toes to her brown eyes, she looked tired. "You know, if you want I could wait a couple more minutes and then go home," he said shrugging his shoulders. "I guarantee you it will have the same effect."

She hesitated for a moment. "Oh."

Troy removed his hands from his pockets a little unsure about what was happening. "Miss Montez, I get the feeling that I've upset you somehow. I don't want to burden you or make you feel obligated to play hostess."

"I'm just tired," she said after a moment. "I really don't want you to leave, of course if you have plans tomorrow I understand. I was hoping you could stay over and we might work on our story for the INS interviews?"

"I don't have plans," he said folding his hands behind his back.

Gabriella smiled at him and nodded as she turned to begin walking down the hall. "You can have your pick of the two guest rooms."

Troy took that as his invitation to follow, and walked quickly behind her to catch up.

"Here's the powder room," she said motioning to a small bathroom on the left, moving onto the next door she pushed it opened and flicked on the lights "This is the main guest room. Adjoined bathroom is right through that door."

When Troy came to stand beside her he peered inside, the room like the rest of the house seemed sterile and un-lived-in. "Alright," he said looking down at her.

"And here's another room. It's a bit smaller, but some people prefer that. I have a feeling you might be one of them."

Troy followed her down the hall his eyes occasionally dropping to watch the sway of her hips, wondering if she were doing it internally or if it was natural. Once he was in the doorway to the bedroom he looked inside and was surprised to find that it looked a little bit like a normal bedroom. It was cozy, just the right size.

"Your feeling is right," he said removing his jacket and tossing it on the bed.

"I had Chad send a few clothes over here this afternoon after your appointment," she said with a knowing smile.

"Of course," Troy said beginning to unbutton his cuff links and roll up his sleeves. "Is there anything else?"

Gabriella stood in the door way her posture upright as she watched him closely. He wasn't sure what she was thinking or what she expected but he was overwhelmed with the urge to finish what they started back at the restaurant.

"You really do look stunning in that dress," he said. "I wasn't just saying that."

Gabriella leaned on the door frame behind her, "that's not what you said before."

Troy narrowed his brow as he watched her closely, "It's not?"

"No, you said 'that dress is stunning'" she corrected with a smirk.

Troy's lips pulled into a smile, "Nothing gets by you does it."

"Not a thing," she playfully pushed herself off the frame and reached for the doorknob. "This is the part where I say good night Mr. Bolton."

"Troy," he said before she could close the door.

She stopped glancing back at him a small smile on her lips.

"And what I meant earlier was that you look stunning. The dress just complements it."

Her eyes drifted to the floor, instinctively. Accepting complements gracefully was not among her talents. "That's very nice of you to say."

"Night Gabriella."

"Night Troy."

Gabriella shut the door and made her way down the hall, for the first time she was sure that she'd seen a crack in Troy's façade. She was sure he had some genuine attraction for her, beyond what was required to display for the sake of their "relationship."

Then again maybe she was being hopeful, maybe he was just swept up in the seductive atmosphere. No. She stopped in her tracks by the kitchen staring out into city lights. She had to get her head on straight, these weren't harmless fantasies. Not when she was going to be living with this man and pretending to be his wife. She was going to lose sight of what they were really doing. She might even fall for him if she wasn't careful.

There it was. That was the first time she really admitted it to herself, in as many words. Was she really that pathetic, to fall in love with a man simply because he was creating a believable facsimile of wooing her? Admittedly he was good at it. The touches at table, that kiss, the way he'd looked at her, like she was the only thing in the world he ever wanted. It was enough to turn anyone's head around.

Gabriella made her way to the fridge and poured herself a glass of wine. She wasted no time draining the glass and then turning around to place it in the sink. This was a job. Like every other task in her life this relationship had a purpose. Her business was on the line. Her home, her life, friends, and relationships she built over the years in networking. Everything was here and everything was riding on this marriage.

She needed to suck it up and get it over it. The sooner, the better.

The next morning Troy showered and dressed early, not really able to sleep in a strange bed. The clothes that Chad had sent for him were causal. The jeans were a snugger fit than he was use to and the shirt was well fitted. Once glance in the mirror and he felt odd about what was staring back at him. It was almost like he'd stepped off the pages of a catalog or something.

Getting his mind off the clothes he made his way into the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was stocked piled to max. A vast difference from his own, there were no expired yogurt cartons or boxes of left over's. Everything here was fresh. It didn't take long for Troy to find his way around the kitchen, in fact after about five minute he was well on his way to a breakfast for two.

"Someone's up early," the sound of her feet padded along the floor and Troy turned around to see her stifling a yawn as she pulled out a stool. She was wearing a pair of jeans and gray crew t-shirt her hair brushed back into a side ponytail.

So she _did_ know how to dress like a normal person. That was encouraging.

"What smells so good?" she asked.

"I'm making some pancakes, eggs, and bacon," he explained. "How do you like your eggs?"

Gabriella hesitated for a moment staring at him in wonder. "You can cook?"

"I can cook," Troy laughed as he turned back to the stove.

"Wow," she murmured, "Here I thought you only existed in Cosmopolitan Magazines."

"What?" Troy asked turning back around.

"Over medium," she said clearing her throat.

Gabriella pulled out her phone and had began scrolling through her e-mails. He watched her as she responded to each ping as it came in and mindlessly ate her breakfast without a word.

"Is it hard?

Her eyes darted upwards looking at him with a bit of confusion, "Excuse me?"

"Is it hard to run a company?" he asked cutting a piece of his pancake in half. "I imagine running a multimillion dollar software company is hard work. It's just that you make it seem so easy."

Gabriella let out a huff, "You think my job is easy?" she said with a raised brow. "I bet you wouldn't say that if I were a man."

Troy paused as he eyed her carefully, "What I mean is that you're really good at it, but you don't have to tell me anything."

She glanced up. "What do you mean?"

"You just seem so quick to strike. Why not just tell me to mind my own damn business."

"You know, Troy, civility has a social purpose. It stops people from killing each other."

He grinned. "I guess I like to live dangerously."

"That's fine," she said seriously, "as long as you don't hurt bystanders."

"You say _don't_ a lot, you know that?" Troy said.

"Oh," Gabriella picked up a piece of bacon and ate it. "When I first came into this industry eight years ago the question I asked myself was simple. It wasn't about who was going to let me achieve my own success; it's about who was going to stop me," she said after a moment of thought. "After I realized that, I decided not to just get myself a job, I wanted the same things for myself that other people aspire for. So I set goals and I achieved them."

Troy laughed, "That's it?" he smiled. "That's how you became the youngest female president and CEO of a software company; you just woke up one day and decided too?"

"As appose to your plan?" Gabriella said with a raised brow.

"Hey," Troy said "If plan A doesn't work. The alphabet has 25 other letters, I find it best to keep the options open."

"Right," Gabriella picked up another piece of bacon. "Hence you're just an IT guy."

Troy frowned as he reached for her plate and pulled it away from her.

"Hey?"

"An IT guy who made you breakfast and plans to marry you so you don't get deported," Troy pointed out with raised brow. "I'd say your option A just took a big spill into B,C and D if you ask me."

Gabriella frowned as she got up from the table and walked over to the living room. "We need to get our story straight on certain details of our relationship," she said grabbing a pair of dark wire thick framed glasses and a pen and paper. "Since we'll be living together, and acting as a couple we ought to be able to give genuine answers to most of the questions."

"Sensing a but," he said placing her place back down at the table.

"Well, there will be questions about the beginning of our relationship, about very personal things we might not know about each other," she said coming back to table and putting on her glasses.

"Like the fact that you wear big dorky glasses?" He smiled playfully.

"I wear things I'm comfortable in, especially when I'm in the comforts and privacy of my own home," she responded with a defensive expression.

"I like the glasses," he said leaning on the counter a bit, "They suit you."

She seemed to be okay with this answer after a moment and looked down at her piece of paper, "We have to be prepared, and they'll be the sorts of questions that are difficult to fake. When it comes to the time of the interview, if they ask you a difficult question that we haven't prepared for simply say that you don't know or you can't remember the details of what they're asking. Never try to guess or making something up. "

"Right," he said pretending to make a mental note, although he was sure she'd leave nothing about this entire ordeal unprepared for.

"You'll probably be expected to describe the features, layout and décor of this place," she said with a small frown. "Hopefully after a while of living here that won't be too hard."

"I bet it won't."

"When they ask you those kinds of questions be sure to be accurate, but not too through. You don't want to sound rehearsed."

"Jesus," he said lifting a piece of bacon and bringing it to his lips.

"You're not having second thoughts are you?" she looked up at him mildly startled.

"No, no. It's just a lot to take in."

Moving on as if he'd said nothing at all she kept checking things off her list. "Your birthday is March 3 1987?"

Troy nodded.

"Mine is-"

"November 18th 1986," He finished for her, "You're not the only one who can look someone up."

Gabriella nodded, "Fine, what were some of the first things we talked about, when our relationship became personal? What did we have in common?"

Troy looked at her with a raised brow, "Are you asking me to make something up right now?"

Gabriella let out a sigh, "If we discuss things we'll be more likely to remember them."

"Alright… so what kind of movies do you like?" Troy asked.

"What?"

Troy stood up straighter, "I think this would be a little easier if these questions had a little bit of truth behind them."

"I like Nickolas Sparks movies," Gabriella said as a challenge.

"Wonderful so did mother, I've think I've seen each one."

Gabriella leaned back in surprise, "Which one's your favorite?"

Troy narrowed his eyes, "Are you testing me?"

"Answer the question."

"The Lucky One. However," he said raising a finger, "I like the book better."

Gabriella brought her pencil down as she examined the man standing in her kitchen.

"Small town, my mother had a book club and in that book club was a very motivationally hot red head," he said with smirk. "I'm a guy."

She exhaled and went back to her sheet of paper. "What about our first meeting? Can you describe it?"

"Are we coming up for an alternate reality for this answer as well?"

"Look after I called you back to my office for that meeting," She said pausing to clear her throat. "You found out later that there was no special project. I only called you into my office because I wanted to talk to you. I'd become smitten from a distance. I wanted an excuse to have a conversation with you, and get to know you better."

For a moment she looked back at her plate of half eaten food, "I guess we talked about our mutual interest for Nickolas Sparks movies, and-"

"And I called you the next day. We talked, I made you laugh, and you like that about me. I make you laugh," he said with a smirk. "We began texting and calling each other all the time."

"You don't make me laugh. We both kept it a secret due to the conflict of interest." Gabriella shifted in her seat as their eyes met.

"I did make you laugh. And what would your secretary say? If she really knew what was going on behind the closed doors of your office? I finally decided that I didn't want this to be a secret anymore." His smirk had changed into something more sinister.

"So we went out to dinner, I asked you to move in with me, shortly after that you quit your job," Gabriella said quickly in an attempt to put an end to their story.

He looked at her mildly offended. "Your alternate universe self is very aggressive," he picked up his fork and speared a pancake slice. "Did I have any say in this at all?"

"Of course you did," she murmured looking down at her notes.

Troy laughed as he turned around to place his empty plate in the sink, "So what do I do if they ask me if I knew about your situation."

"I told you because I wanted to be honest with you. I didn't want you to think I was only marrying you because of that."

"That's touching," he said turning around and taking the sheet of paper from her. "Eat."

Gabriella opened her mouth to protest but all he did was point at her plate of half eaten food.

"So do you really think that they'll buy all this?"

"They have too," she said picking up her fork. "There's no law against marrying someone if you're at risk of being deported. What's illegal is marrying someone _because_ you're at risk of being deported."

"There's no difference in what you just said."

"That's because you're uneducated."

Troy raised a brow, "I went to college."

"You paid for college and you attended. Yet you're working an entry level position at my company with no other options but to marry someone else with a better retirement plan."

Troy watched her as she lifted a fork full of eggs into her mouth as he chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment in thought. "If I worked for INS I'd be driving you across the border myself."

"Your vote of confidence is much appreciated," she offered dryly.

Troy glanced down at her check list of questions and then back up at her, his eyes glittering with amusement. "It seems we need to pick out a favorite sexual position."

Gabriella frowned as she reached for her glass of orange juice. "Just pick one."

"A favorite sexual position says a lot about a couple. You sure you want to leave this one up to me?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Doggystyle it is then."

Gabriella mouth fell open, "Oh come on?"

"Come on what?" he laughed, "you told me to pick one and I did, I'm sorry there isn't a scientific term for it."

"And you can't pick anything classier than that?"

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing about sex is suppose to be classy."

Gabriella felt a blush wash over her cheeks as she looked back down at her plate.

"What kind of birth control do you use?"

Gabriella let out a sigh, "What kind of condoms do you use?"

"Kind?" Troy snorted.

"That's exactly the kind of details they're going to ask about," she said. "They're simple to answer if you're being honest, but very difficult if you're lying."

Troy let out a sigh, "I can't even remember the last time I brought condoms. Let alone what brand they were, but I can tell you that their overpriced." He added the last part as an afterthought as he picked up the list again.

"Maybe," she hesitated. "Would it be better if we said we were planning on having children as soon as possible?"

"You don't think that's laying it on a little too thick?" he said looking up at her a little alarmed.

"Better they should think that we're disgustingly in love and wildly irresponsible, than faking it."

Troy set the sheet of paper flat on the counter top and let out a breath as he leaned on the counter top behind him. "This entire thing is crazy."

"Well we're not actually planning on having children."

"Believe me I know," Troy said raising an eye in her direction. "But do you really think we can live with each other for two years? We can't agree on any of these questions."

"No offense, but you're not exactly the kind of roommate I've been looking for all my life either. I told you, I'm not looking for a traditional marriage, which is why I'm not asking for one. I'm simply asking you to help me stay in the country and in return I'll help you do whatever you want afterward."

Troy eyed her carefully, "If you found out you were pregnant tomorrow, would you want a boy or a girl?"

"I don't want kids."

"Who doesn't want kids?" Troy said a little taken aback.

"If there's one thing in life I'm sure of is that I will never let myself have children."

"Why?"

"I just don't think I could be the kind of mother they'd deserve. I don't think people give much thought to it. I'd be a terrible wife and mother. I'm always working. I never have down time, and I'm constantly pulled in a hundred directions at once. Kids need their parents to be there, and I know I couldn't be. So even if I wanted kids, I wouldn't have them."

Troy nodded as he pushed himself off the counter top. He couldn't actually believe what he was hearing, but hearing it made him feel sorry for her. It was eye opening to see life from a different perspective. Here he was wanting so much out of life and unable to have it because he didn't have money. Then there was Miss Montez who had nothing but money and all it gave her was loneliness.

"Emma," Troy said quietly.

"What?" Gabriella asked as she looked up at him oddly from her pancakes.

"My first child, I've always liked the name Emma."

Gabriella stared at him for a long moment, her cinnamon eyes watching him from behind her glasses. "Would you prefer to wait until after we're married to move in?"

"Yeah," Troy said quietly as he brought a hand up to rub the back of his neck. "I need to get everything settled. You know my lease and all that."

"I pay it off," she frowned, "If that's a problem."

Troy couldn't help but feel vaguely sick to his stomach, sad and unsettled. He didn't want to fight with her or upset her. The entire situation just felt like it was zooming past him. All that mattered to her was the end goal. Her eyes were fixed on the prize and it seemed like nothing else mattered, not the two years of his life he'd be giving up, his job, his apartment, his former life.

The minutes ticked by, marked by the ultra-modern clock above the mantelpiece.

"I'm sorry but this is weird."

"I don't want to pressure you into anything that makes you uncomfortable," she said, finally. "You know that, don't you? Just because I'm paying you … I mean, what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't feel obligated."

"Right," Troy laughed as he came over to her, under any other circumstance he would have kept his distance. But given the whole soon to be married aspect of their relationship he oddly felt a need to have physical closeness. "You know that's impossible right?" he met her eyes and placed his hands on the counter. "With the amount of money you're giving me, how can I possibly _not_ feel obligated?"

"Is this going to be a problem?" she said slowly standing up from her chair.

Troy watched her as she watched him, both of them seeming to size each other up. "I'm sure we can come out of this intact," he said quietly.

"Good," at that moment her phone vibrated next to her plate and she reached for it. "I have to take this, you can see yourself out."

Troy watched as she brought the phone to her ear and began talking to the person on the other end as she made her way across the apartment to the staircase leading to what he assumed was an office.


	6. Chapter 6

Taylor looked down at the binder in front of her as she looked down at Troy where he sat in Gabriella's office. "If I wasn't clear about this before let me be very clear about this now. This is not a fake marriage. This is not simply a sleight of hand. You two will get married for real. Everything contained in these binders will be legally binding."

Troy looked at the binder on the conference table, "And what is it?"

"This binder is a prenup," Taylor said. "We'll cover the details later but this is all fairly standard. It outlines what is and is not acceptable within the bounds of marriage."

"Right," Troy said almost sorry he asked. He looked over at Gabriella who was responding to a text message on her phone. Her hair pulled back today in a sleek bun. Per usual Robotic elegance. Not a touch of humanity on her.

"The main points are simple. First, no outside relationships. No sex, no flirting, no late night phone calls with old flames. If either of you would rather screw around, we should call it quits right now." Taylor crossed her arms as she made a face towards Troy. "Even the appearance of impropriety ruins the whole rational behind doing this. Second, no one outside this room can know about this agreement. Not friends, not family. Everyone must believe that the two of you are head over heels in love. Their honest belief will sell your story."

Troy glanced over at Gabriella and frowned, "shouldn't you be paying attention to these as well."

"I wrote them."

Troy rolled his eyes as he looked back at Taylor with exasperation. Of course she wrote them. He was beginning to think he have to sign a contract that delegated his air supply when in her presence if this kept up.

"Third in the event of the divorce, Troy will waive his right to any shared property. In return, he will receive his stipend and be happy in his sustained standard of living expected for any current or former member of the Montez family."

"Whoa," Troy held up a hand, "I'm not changing my name. That's a girl thing." His eyes narrowed as he turned to look at Gabriella. "That's not happening."

She looked up from her phone and at him with a shocked expression. "You can't be serious."

"Kitten you can change it, put a dash between it or completely ignore it but my name has been Troy Alexander Bolton since the day I was born and that's not about to change."

"I have an entire brand behind my name. Why should have to do anything at all?"

Troy held up a finger, "One word. Deportation."

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she looked back at Taylor.

"In any case," Taylor continued momentarily ignoring them. "I have crafted an exit plan for the two of you, one that will reflect well on both of you while allowing Troy to return to some level of anonymity. Although, and let me be clear. During the course of this relationship you will almost certainly retain some small level of celebrity. I've written up a short summary of the plan. Of course, it won't be included in the official agreement."

All of this made Troy head spin. He had no idea what to do or say. Everything about his life had been outlined for next two years. His sex life, his image, his name, their short-term deal had turned into a life sentence.

_Troy Montez?_ He never thought of it before. _Over my dead body._ It had all seemed like such a simple proposition, spend some time pretending to be married while figuring out what to do with his life. But this… this was slowly becoming years of his time. This role would become his entire life, his whole identity. He would always be Gabriella's husband or Gabriella's ex-husband.

The dawning of this moment made him feel numb and panicked and out of breath, he needed a minute to think. Why did he think this would be easy?

"Kiss."

The command cleared his fog and he looked up at Taylor with a bewildered expression. "Excuse me?"

"I need you two to look real. More importantly I need to be sure you look real. Kiss her."

Troy let out a sign as he stood up and came to hover over Gabriella, who was back to vigorously typing something out on her phone. He reached for it and removed it from for hands catching her off guard. "Sorry, I actually need you to be present for this."

Before she could protest or ask about what was going on Troy placed his palm on her cheek, pulled her in and kissed her. His kiss was softer than she expected given her experience from outside of the restaurant. Almost instantly all of her tension melted away as she basked in the soft warmth of his lips. Without thinking, she slipped her tongue against his as he deepened the kiss.

Her stomach fluttered, and a thrilled sipped up her spine, sending a shiver of excitement through her back and into her chest. When he pulled away from her she did her best not to follow and found it almost damn near impossible. She let out a long breath and found herself dizzy with bliss. _Holy crap, that was good. _She could feel herself starting to blush as she opened her eyes and looked up at Troy.

"Was that convincing enough for you?" he said turning towards Taylor.

Taylor raised a brow in Gabriella's direction and offered a quick nod. "Yeah," she said, "that should be good enough."

Gabriella looked down at her cell phone as Troy handed it back to her. Hesitantly she took it from him without a word.

When everything was signed and Taylor was gone Gabriella sat down behind her desk, her eyes on the man who would soon be her husband as he sat there looking lost. Why did kissing him have to feel so good? Why did she have to like it? "Should we go on another date tonight?"

"I have a dinner tonight with my friends," he said.

"Oh."

"Actually why don't you come with me, it counts for a date, my friends need to see you as much as I need to be seen by your people." Troy stood up and reached in his pocket for his phone, "I'll let them know you're coming."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Troy raised a brow as he looked down at his phone, "We gotta start this fake relationship some time, might as well start now."

"Right."

Later that night, Gabriella sat beside him in the town's car as they rode through the quiet neighborhood. She'd never been anywhere like this before. He assured her that the outfit she had on was fine for dinner. She'd never really dressed for dinner party of this magnitude before. She put on a Vera Wang chiffon bell sleeve dress. This silk-chiffon dress was feminine with effortless silhouette that Chad had called 'lingerie-inspired elegance.'

"Who else will be there?" she said nit picking at her pony tail and hoping it hadn't started to sag already. Simply leaving it down didn't seem to befit the occasion, but it was stubborn. Hair spray was her one and only tool of power she could use against it. The downside to naturally think, glossy hair was that it was improbably heavy and slippery. She'd yet to meet a band or clip that could hold it.

"Just us," Troy said casually watching the houses go by.

"Is there anything I need to know about them? Are they republican or democrat?" she whispered.

Troy eyed her with a sideways glance, "No politics, no religion and no talk about business," he warned. "In fact, give me your cell phone."

"What?" Gabriella held onto her purse a little tighter. "I will do no such thing."

Troy's eyes narrowed, "If I see it one time tonight, I will take it from you and I will not let you have it back until the end of the evening."

"I will not sit here and let you dictate my life. Who are you to tell me when and where I can or can't look at my phone?"

The car came to stop and Troy leaned towards her with his hand on the door handle. "I'm the guy saving your ass. I'm also the guy, who you're gonna pretend to be in love with for the next few hours. I mean it, this façade is two way street and you're currently in my neck of the woods. So get the feminist stick out of your ass and start playing the doting girlfriend Kitten."

"Don't call me Kitten."

He didn't say anything else, he simply got out of the car and held out his hand to her, so she took it. Annoyed with his arrogance and flustered with his polite smile and endearing manners, manners that held her hand all the way to the door. She felt fuzzy and lightheaded standing so close to him, his hand wrapped around hers as he rang the door bell.

"You know maybe one day we should go on an actual date and explore this little attraction we've got going on."

"So little I'm completely unaware of it," she retorted.

"Really?" Troy smirked, "and here I thought you were a clever woman." He leaned closer. The man had charisma; she'd gave him that.

Surprise came into his extraordinary blue eyes. At first Gabriella thought it was because she held her ground. Until he sniffed her. "Your perfume," he said quietly. "It's sexy as hell."

Before she could pull away the door opened and a petite brown eyed woman with auburn hair greeted them. "Troy," she smiled as she reached out to hug him.

"Hey Kelsi," Troy said as he returned her hug, "This is Gabriella the one I told you about on the phone." He said untangling himself and motioning to Gabriella behind him.

Gabriella smiled politely before the woman came up to her and pulled her into her embrace as well. "I'm so happy to finally meet you, I didn't think Troy would ever find himself a lady friend."

"Oh," Gabriella said as she hugged the woman back awkwardly not entirely sure she was doing it right. _A lady friend?_

"Well you know, I can be charming," Troy teased as he ushered both woman inside.

Kelsi laughed as she led them inside and into the kitchen where Ryan was stirring a big pot. "Troy's here with his friend," she announced. Kelsi returned to her position at the table where she was attempting to feed her daughter.

"Hey," Ryan looked up from the pot he was stirring, "I hope chili is okay for tonight?"

"Chili sounds amazing," Troy said as he moved to take Gabriella sweater from her. "Ryan Evans this is Gabriella Montez. Gabriella, this is my best friend Ryan."

"Hello," Gabriella held out her hand for him to take and Ryan smiled tightly as he took it.

"As in, the Gabriella Montez? of Software Solutions? The youngest, up and coming Bill Gates of our time when it comes to software development?"

"That's me," Gabriella murmured.

"Holy shit," Ryan's mouth fell agape.

"Ryan?" Kelsi said placing her hands over her their daughter's ears.

"Damn," he whispered, "Sorry."

Gabriella looked around the small cozy kitchen with its bright colors and homey feel she almost felt as though she walked into one of those movies from the hallmark channel rather than someone's actual home.

"You have to excuse my husband, he's a mechanical engineer for airplanes and he spends a lot of time reading software magazines."

"Now that sounds like a respectable job," Gabriella said nodding in Ryan's direction.

Choosing to ignore that statement Troy bent down at the table next to Kelsi, "And how is my favorite little girl?" he asked with a soft smile.

The little girls green eyes opened wide as she spotted Troy, her little hands extended in a pick-me-up stance. Troy happily obliged lifting her from her seat and twirling her around with smiles and giggles. Her reddish little curls fluttered as she began speaking a mile a moment in her best rendition of the English language in toddler form.

"How's Big Red?" Ryan asked leaning on the counter.

"Who?" Gabriella asked a little confused.

"She's in the shop," Troy said keeping his attention on little Michelle. "She finally gave out, should be another week before I can spring her from the joint."

"_The joint_?" Gabriella glanced over at him with alarm. "You know someone in the _joint_?"

"Their talking about a car," Kelsi offered with a polite smile. "Troy's been trying to keep that thing alive since high school. Every week there's a problem and every weekend he hijacks my husband into the garage and they tinker with it as if they know what they're doing."

"I do know what I'm doing. And for the record," Ryan added pointing in Troy direction, "I told you that car was going to crap out on you." Ryan looked over at Gabriella and held his hand up as if telling her a secret, "He's never listened to me about that car."

"It's a truck," Troy corrected Ryan as he put Michelle down in her seat, "and I happen to love my truck, it was all I could afford. It's a man's car and it has always gotten me from point A to point B."

"If you constantly have to tinker with it," Gabriella said matter of fact, "it doesn't sound very reliable."

"I like her," Ryan said turning around to get a few glasses from the cabinet, "Can I offer you guys a drink?"

Her first thought was to say no. Drinking on an empty stomach had never turned out well in the past. But a sip or two wouldn't hurt, and it might help lighten her up. She wanted to enjoy the evening, not worry about what she was doing wrong or right. Before she could answer Troy spoke up, "We'll just have a beer, no need to get fancy."

"Beer?" Gabriella mumbled in his direction.

Troy smiled and gave her a knowing smile, "I'm sorry honey, I forgot to bring the wine. I must have left it on the table at home."

"You brought wine?" Kelsi huffed.

Troy rolled his eyes, "Gee guys it's not like I'm trying to impress her or anything?" He said a little annoyed. "I can buy wine."

"Right," Ryan put the glasses back in the cabinet and went to the fridge, "So how did you two meet anyways?"

Gabriella frowned as she watched Ryan hand out brown individual bottles. As soon as she held the beverage in her hand she stared at it with confusion. She drank beer only a handful of times in her life, she didn't care much for the tart taste, but she supposed people put up with it for the buzz. Still there had to be a better way. At least a better tasting way.

"We work together."

"He works for me actually," Gabriella corrected.

Troy smiled as he bit the inside of his cheek, "Yes I work for her, bottom line we met at work."

"How?" Ryan asked opening his beer and lifting it for a long sip.

Troy looked over at Gabriella for a moment before opening his mouth, "It was an accident of course, I had a work order for station 301 and her office is suite 301."

"Only the work order was actually for station 301 which is located on the third floor," Gabriella said as she looked over at Troy with coy smile.

"Right," Troy said reaching over to open her beer, "Well I had this work order to add some RAM to a hard drive and I knew just by looking at her computer that I must have read the order wrong."

"I would have killed you," Gabriella said as she looked down at her now open beer. She should kill him. She would have preferred water over this _beer_.

"Well, Just as I'm about to leave, she comes walking into the office and I panic. She was so beautiful I didn't know what to say, so of course I started babbling like idiot. I told her I like her perfume for god shakes."

In that moment Troy steadied himself against her and wrapped his arm around her waist. She barely realized it had happened. It just felt so natural. He was still talking and she couldn't focus on what he was saying. All she kept thinking was, _did he really think she was beautiful?_

_I'm just playing a role,_ she tried to convince herself. _He knows that. I know that._ She just wondered how long it would be before these feelings would fade and she could get a better grip on herself.

"That is so adorable," Kelsi's high pitch squeals knocked her right out of her own thoughts and she came to realize the story was over. Troy placed a soft kiss on her temple and she closed her eyes for a moment as she leaned into him and enjoyed the wonderful feeling of his solid chest against her.

Ryan let out a chuckle, "See and I told you, you're time was coming, did I not?" he teased as he turned towards the chili to stir it.

"You sure did," Troy said little disconnected as he moved away from Gabriella and reached for his beer.

"I'm going to go put Michelle to bed, I'll be back down in moment," Kelsi said picking up her daughter and beginning to head upstairs.

"I'm going to go and perform my fatherly duties of checking the closet for monsters," Ryan said setting the spoon on its resting pan. "Shouldn't take too long, make yourselves at home."

"Yeah," Troy said quietly as he watched him leave the room. His eyes wondered back over to Gabriella who was still staring at her beer as it rested on the kitchen counter. "Here's an idea," he said inching close to her, "Try it."

"I've never drunk alcohol from the bottle before," she said glancing up at him. "Let alone whatever this is?"

"It's called a Bud Light."

"Well that doesn't sound very appealing,"

"You mean it's not expensive, so you don't like it."

Gabriella placed a hand on her hip, "Don't put words in my mouth."

"Then try it, Kitten."

Gabriella was quiet for a moment as she stared at the bottle then glanced back up at him. A flare of annoyance shot through her. "Let's get one thing straight here Mr. Bolton," she said turning towards him, "I run a multimillion dollar company in a male dominated field. So I refuse to let you push me around just because I prefer my beverages a little less barbaric."

There was something incongruous about her appearance tonight that had been pulling at him and as she bit her lip he finally figured it out. Her mouth, lush and full, was more suited to a stripper than the prim and proper business woman she was. "Mr. Bolton?" Troy chuckled as he raised a brow, "you know I finally figured out who you remind me of?"

Gabriella let out a huff as she raised her brow in his direction.

"Your mouth doesn't fit your profession," Troy teased as he lifted his beer for a sip. "It's like seeing something X-rated on the cartoon network."

"Are you saying that I have a mouth like a hooker?" She snorted.

"Actually, I was thinking stripper," he replied lazily. "But I love the outraged dignity. Put me in my place again."

Her face fell instantly, "Well that's wonderful."

"It's a joke. Loosen up," he coached.

"Well, I'm not paying you for your sense of humor."

"No," he frowned. "Just for my manly bits and citizenship."

Gabriella rolled her eyes.

Amusement danced over his features as he watched her, "I don't quite understand what it is you're going for?" he chuckled softly. "You act like… and pardon my French… you act like a bitch and then you get all up in arms when you're called out on it."

"I am not a bitch," she whispered the last word as she stood up straighter running a hand over her hair and then adjusting the collar of her dress. "You're just immature and find a punch line in every situation."

"I would never call you a bitch," he said in a softer tone. "In fact, I think you're really quite sweet under that Miss Maple exterior, you have going on."

"Oh please," Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Don't pretend like you know me."

"Oh Honey," he said quietly his smile becoming wicked as he watched her. "I get the sense that I know a lot about you just from this short time that we've spent together."

"Well I know all about you as well."

Troy chuckled as he put his beer down on the counter, "Name one thing about me you've learned that you didn't read in some background check or file?"

Gabriella was quiet for a moment as she racked her brain until finally she let out a sigh, "You have an obvious disregard for personal space."

"What?" Troy couldn't stop the laughter from welling up inside him. "I've respected you're personal space."

"Then what about the kissing?"

"What about it?"

"You keep doing it."

"Well I have to; it's about the only thing you let me do in this little fake relationship." Troy said a little annoyed, "Everything else is life according to you."

"That is so not the case," Gabriella pointed her finger at him. "I didn't want this, I don't even believe in love, not for people like me anyway."

"I'll pretend, for your sake, that I believe that."

"It's true; this whole arrangement was my lawyer's idea. I don't care about my relationship status, it makes no difference in my life if I were to be single or not. Sure it might get us some attention and it going to help me stay in the country but it doesn't really matter to me otherwise."

"So does your lawyer make every decision in your life?"

"No," she said quietly as she crossed her arms.

"Ah I see, so the unimportant stuff, like your love life, you leave to the professionals." Troy paused as he pretended to think. "Makes me wonder what you do for sex?"

Her mouth fell open as she looked at him with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. Before she could protest the sound of feet coming down the stairs startled them and Troy reached over quickly grabbing her hips, pulling her chest to chest with himself. He leaned back against the counter and pulled her with him. She felt his hands on her back and she inhaled sharply as the quick shift sent her full weight against him. And then he kissed her, his lips warm and smooth, his tongue just tickling the edge of her bottom lip, enough to send a shiver up her spine and make her kiss him back.

His manly grasp settled a warmth over Gabriella that she wasn't use to. The citrus scent of his cologne intoxicated her. The rush of endorphins and the pleasant buzz of excitement hummed inside her. Gabriella closed her eyes and floated on the warmth of that kiss. The feeling lingered until she took a breath and straightened up.

"Wow," she whispered before she could stop herself.

"Wow indeed," Kelsi smirked as she walked across the kitchen.

Gabriella moved to get away but Troy didn't loosen his grasp around her waist, "Sorry Kelsi," he said with a small smile.

"Not a problem," she said reaching for her beer from the kitchen table. "I'm just excited to see you finally into someone other than that pile of junk you call a car."

"Seriously," Ryan said coming back into the kitchen as well, "Without your car here this feels like an actual visit and not a favor."

"Ha, ha, ha," Troy murmured as he finally release Gabriella and reached for his own beer. "Does everyone have something against my car?"

Gabriella reached for her beer as well and he watched from the corner of his eye as she lifted it to her lips for long sip of her own. A small smile pulled at his lips as she brought her hand up and wiped her lips with backside of her hand. She looked so out of place and her demeanor was so uptight. Was it horrible that he found a certain joy in pushing her buttons?

Troy drew a deep breath and reminded himself of what they were doing. Pretending. Pretending to be in love, so she could keep her freedom. He had to remember to act the part but not feel it.

He didn't have to kiss her, he could have just changed the conversation or simply followed her lead. He knew that he shouldn't have done what he did. Especially because he was beginning to enjoy the feel of those lips against his own. There was something about her. The easy way she seemed to fit against him, the way she gave back as good as whatever he could dish out. He wasn't all too sure if it was an act or not. If it was she was a damn good actress. She looked totally enamored with him.

By the end of the evening Troy ushered Gabriella back inside her own building, his hand firmly on her back and the other at her side as she leaned on him with most of her weight. The doorman gave them both a knowing smile and Troy did his best to smile politely and make everything seem natural.

She was sluggish and her ponytail was sloppy. Her expensive shoes hung in his hands and she wobbled a little back and forth against him.

"Come on," he murmured softly, as they stepped off the elevator.

"Do you think they liked me?" she murmured with a subtle slur.

"Are you kidding me when this goes south they might pick you in the divorce," Troy grunted as he focused on getting them inside the door.

Gabriella let out laugh as soon as the door was open she detached from him and walked into her living room preforming a small spin, "Did you ever want to go to the moon when you were kid?" she blurted out stopping to stare out at the windows into the darkness.

Troy searched for the lights and found them, a small smirk coming over his features. "I wanted to go to the playboy mansion."

Gabriella spun around tossing her arms out as she sigh with exasperation, "Seriously?" Moving towards her stairs she fumbled a little and Troy quickly came to her side.

"I'm kidding," Troy supported her as she steadied herself against him. "It's just a rock. A giant rock out in the middle of nothing. What's there to see?" he said helping her to the stairs. "I mean, you could probably buy your own space shuttle and go visit it if you really wanted to."

"Of course it's just a rock now," she said shrugging away from him and making her way over to the window. "But back then when you were small, didn't you ever look at it, and marvel at how close it was," she said admiring the night sky as she removed the band from her hair and gently shook it loose. "Didn't you just look up at it and think man, I'd really like to go there? Like it was always so close, like you could get in your car and drive there in a few minutes." She placed her hand on the window as she looked up at the waxing moon.

Troy let out a sigh as he came to the window behind her, "I think you're drunk," he said softly taking her hand.

Gabriella turned around her body encased between him and the glass. Her body leaned back on the glass her head tilting as she watched him watch her. "You don't have to put me to bed," she said quietly.

"I'd feel better if I did," Troy voiced softly reaching for her other hand taking a step back gently tugging her forward. Holding both her hands in his he gently coaxed her back to the stairs until she stopped and gave him a not so gentle tug of her own. "What are you doing?"

"Do you make all of your decisions in life based on money?" she asked staring at him with an odd sense of wonder.

"Just the ones I'm two cowardly to make on my own," Troy joked. "Sometimes I don't have a choice, money can't buy happiness but it sure does make life a lot easier. Some choices are already made for you when it comes to money."

"Like your love life?"

Troy shot her a look. He wasn't sure where this was going. "What?"

"Why don't you have one, you perfectly capable of it?"

"Because I'm with you," Troy offered as he tried to get her moving again with no success.

Gabriella face softened before she bubbled over and let out a high pitched laugh, "You know I'm not going to sleep with you just because you're being nice to me?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Troy huffed as bent to scoop her up bridal style.

Gabriella let out gasp as she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck. "Whoa," she said eyes wide as she took him in from this close. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to bed," he said simply as he made his way to the stairs.

"No," she said shaking her head, "I can't sleep with you," her hand pounded on his chest only her punches were sloppy and weak. "I refuse to let my first time be with someone who thinks the playboy mansion is better than the moon."

Troy let out a laugh as he glanced down at her, "Good luck with that." Troy shifted her slightly in his arms to accommodate her fidgeting earning a squeal as she clung to him tighter.

"Please don't drop me," she panicked.

"Then stop attacking me," he teased as he began climbing the stairs.

"You're not going to take off my clothes are you?" she said sagging her head against him and closing her eyes.

"Kitten, rest assured if we were to ever make love, it will be completely your idea," he said looking down at her with a devilish grin.

"We won't. And I won't." She murmured as she snuggled against his chest.

"Whatever you say," his mischievous smile gave way into a roguish laughter as he made his way into her bedroom. By the time he was standing at her bedside she was soundlessly asleep in his arms. He hovered for a moment, enjoying the feel of her resting against him. Enjoying the smell of her perfume, the way the whole room smelled like her.

With a sigh he bent down and placed her gently on the bed, making sure her head was positioned on the pillow comfortably. Reaching for a throw at the edge of the bed he lifted it and covered her body.

"Night Gabriella," he whispered pausing to watch her shift comfortably in her sleep. Her features were relaxed her smile more content and genuine. Gently he placed a small kiss on the top of her head before heading downstairs to make himself comfortable in the guest bedroom.


	7. Chapter 7

It wasn't until Friday when Gabriella saw him again. The disappointment, that he'd been gone, the morning after their dinner with his friends still surprised her. It wasn't as thought she suspected that he spend the night and make her breakfast again like he had the last time, but a small part of her had woken up thinking about it.

And that was dangerous.

Even though she was mortified about her condition that night she still had the urge to see him. The need to talk about what she said, maybe find out what he thought about it. If he thought about it? Did he think about it? _Didn't men always think about it?_ She looked up at him as he stood by her desk looking around the room, the more and more time he spent in her office the less and less he looked out of place. Apparently the same could not be said for how he felt.

"I'd like to take you to dinner tonight," he finally said as he adjusted his collar.

Attempting to seem unaffected and not the least bit excited Gabriella looked back down at her spread sheet, "Time?"

"Seven."

Gabriella nodded as she looked back up at him, "Where should I make the reservations?"

"Actually," Troy said lifting a hand to scratch the back of his neck. "I've already taken care of it."

"Really?" Gabriella shifted in her chair now leaning back so she could give him her attention. "Where are we going?"

"A place."

"Is this place, somewhere nice or causal?"

"Nice," he said shoving his hands in his pockets.

Gabriella thought for a moment about asking another question when she looked up and seen the look in his eyes. _Oh, God. _This was it, wasn't it? He was going to propose tonight. In public, she was sure. "Okay," suddenly her throat was dry. Her heart was fluttering in her chest.

"Good," he said with a sigh.

There a forced look of relief on his face and Gabriella felt a stirring inside her. A panic, a daunting rise of emotion she had no idea she'd feel. "Love you," she murmured as he was walking out.

Troy came to a standstill in the doorway, and for a moment she almost wished she could take the words back. She wished she hadn't said them. The hair on the back of her neck rose as Goosebumps prickled over her skin.

"Love, you too?" he said softly with an arched brow.

With that he was gone and Gabriella slumped in her chair her head falling into her hands as she murmured a slur of curses. What was she going to do? She hadn't expected this just yet. Her eyes opened and she let out a sigh. _Well yes she expected it. _

She wasn't ready for this. She didn't exactly have a choice in the matter either. What was she going to wear? There weren't many things in her closet that went with a haunted, thousand-yard stare.

Luckily when she did get home she found that there was a short emerald green cocktail dress hanging in the back of her closet that she hadn't found an occasion for. Laying it out on the bed she stared at it for a moment, her eyes becoming misty. Swiftly she brought a hand up and wipe away the tear that might or might not be falling. She picked up the dress.

This was it. There was no going back from here. She held it up to herself in the mirror.

Her stomach felt hollow. Her eyes filled again and she inhaled sharply as she blinked the tears away. Her hand came over her stomach and for the first time since everything began, it hit her. This was it. There was just a vast …nothing. Just foolishness, another sacrifice from her personal life for her career.

Pushing the emptiness down she went to the bathroom to quickly shower and dry her hair. Once she was dressed she stood in front of her mirror too distracted to ponder about her hair. Leaving it down didn't seem to fit the occasion, but she could barely feel her fingers tips.

She managed the clasp of her necklace and a simple pair of earrings, but there was nothing more her hands could do without going numb.

The driver was punctual as always, and this time she was surprised to see Troy already in the back seat waiting.

"Hey," he said with a small smile, "You look nice."

"I didn't know what to wear," she murmured as she tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Don't worry," he chuckled, "You look beautiful."

Gabriella sank deeper into the Italian leather and tried not to look miserable.

"What's the matter?" he said after a moment of silence had past between them.

Gabriella offered the best smile that she could, her heart not in it to give him all she had. "I don't know," she said. "I guess, I'm just tired."

He nodded seeming to accept this answer for a while as they sat in silence on their way to their destination. His hands seem to fidget with his suit sleeves and Gabriella couldn't help but watch his hands move. Her mind ticking away at how fake this moment in time seemed to be. As if it weren't really happening to her at all.

"I feel so out of place in these things," he murmured as he glanced at her and caught her watching him. "It's like I'm playing dress up."

"You look handsome," Gabriella said reassuringly.

Troy smiled, "I do, don't I?"

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh as she looked away from him, her stomach bubbling over with all sort of emotions she wasn't quite ready to sort out yet.

When they pulled up to the curb, Troy got out of the car first and quickly ran to her side, opening her door before she had a chance. His hand extended to help her out of the car. Against her better judgment she took it, letting herself play the dotting girlfriend.

The place was sleek and elegant, high-powered and everything she would have expected for a man proposing to someone glamorous. Certainly not someone like her, someone who spent her life behind a desk. Suddenly she never felt more awkward in her life. Walking between the booths and tables of the fanciest restaurant in the city, she tried to keep her eyes focused on the wall directly in front of her, but she knew people could see.

She knew she should have gotten her hair done, should have went to the spa, she should be smiling. She was supposed to be in love. This was love. _Wasn't it?_

"Here you are, sir, ma'am." The host handed them their menus. "Your server will be with you in a moment."

"Thank you," Troy said as he laid his menu on the table. Once the host was gone he let out breath as he looked around, "Chad was right when he said this place was crazy fancy."

"Oh," she said pretending to be interested.

"Yeah, he told me to ask about the specials. They're always seasonal and as fresh as it gets."

Gabriella nodded, she didn't feel like looking at the menu anyway. In fact the idea of eating made her stomach cringe.

The server came back shortly, prattling on about braised this and locally grown that. They ordered something she barely understood and shortly after that he came back with a bottle of white wine that she requested. She forced a smile as he poured their glasses, aware that they were being watched. Hopefully, if she looked strange, it would pass as the anxiety of a woman who was expecting to be proposed to, but was still unsure if it would really happen or not.

"This is a very nice place," she said, when she realized they hadn't spoken in a while.

"Yeah," Troy said looking at his glass, "It's very… very classy."

"Not the sort of place you eat every day." Gabriella pour herself a second glass of wine. "But, it's nice for special occasions."

"Well," Troy chuckled as he shifted, "You could eat here every day," he said. "If you wanted to."

"So can you now," Gabriella took a long gulp from her glass.

Troy looked down at his napkin, unfolding and spreading it over his lap with exaggerated slowness so he wouldn't have to meet her eyes. To anyone listening it would probably sound like an innocent comment, but they both knew it was calculated to annoy him.

He didn't speak again until their entrees came. She ended up having some sort of fish that was done perfectly, sweet and flaky. She ate about as much of it as she could manage, even though it seemed to turn to sand in her mouth. Her throat was dry, she finished the last of the wine and motioned for another bottle.

After their plates were cleared away and they ordered dessert, Troy let out a breath and seemed to relax a bit. His eyes watching her from across the table as he fiddled with a fork.

"So do you really want to go to the moon?"

Gabriella eyes shut as she inwardly groaned, "Troy."

"It's just a question Kitten," his eyes were sparkling with amusement as he watched her.

Gabriella let out a sigh as she narrowed her eyes at him, "I did … doesn't everyone have an impossible dream or two?"

He shook his head. "An impossible dream is something like examining the bottom of the ocean. Going to the moon isn't as impossible as you think."

"Really, so what about you? Wasn't there something ridiculous you wanted to do as a kid?"

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "I wanted to be a doctor."

"That's not ridiculous."

"Do you know how expensive that is?" he said with an arched brow.

Gabriella didn't say anything. It was inevitable that there would be an awkward silence every time the topic of money came up. She wasn't sure who was more to blame for it, but it was almost palpable every time.

"I wanted to be a cowgirl for three weeks when I was five," she admitted as she lifted her glass of water to her lips.

Troy let out a laugh as he watched her with an odd fascination, "Every time I think I know who you are, you say something like that and I have to figure you out all over again."

The server came by with refills and Troy ordered a bottle of champagne. It was coming. Gabriella swallowed the rising lump in her throat.

"I swear there isn't much more to figure."

He huffed as began folding his napkin carefully and returning it to the table. "Liar."

She clenched her fist in her lap. She knew what was coming. She'd know it since the moment he signed the contract, yet she still wasn't ready. Far from it. None of this felt real. She wasn't sure if she was going to laugh hysterically, throw up, and cry or do all three at once.

Troy stood up.

His hand in his jacket pocket.

No longer able to keep her eyes open she squeezed them shut and when she opened them, he was down on one knee.

He opened the black velvet box, displaying a delicate gold ring with twin diamonds nested together diagonally, complementing the wave design of the band as it ran underneath it. It was striking and subtle all at the same time. Stunningly beautiful, yet very wearable.

"Gabriella, will you marry me?"

She nodded, numbly. She had to close her eyes again. Tears were gathering, and she wasn't sure she could hold them. Her back ached as she sat bolt upright in her chair, keeping her eyelids glued shut, willing the tears not to come and ruin what little makeup she managed to put on.

She felt him take her hand and slide the ring onto her finger. It was the perfect size. Troy tugged on her hands and pulled her to her feet, his lips pressing against hers in a warm soft kiss that she felt down in her toes.

The kiss was broken when the restaurant erupted in applause. Troy let her go and she sank back down in her chair. The server poured champagne. Gabriella drank her entire glass in one swallow.

"Hey," Troy said as he leaned in from across the table. "Did you want to go home?"

She forced a smile, her eyes for the most part had stopped watering. "It's okay," she said. "I'm fine. It's just … it's a lot you know?"

He nodded like he knew what she was talking about, but she wasn't sure that he did. From his point of view it was just a fake relationship, a fake marriage. He was willing to go through anything for four million dollars. But for her this was different. She couldn't explain why she was crying. The thunderous storm of emotions inside her was just too impossible to understand in any rational way.

Her eyes glanced down at the ring now on her finger. It really was perfect. It was exactly what she would have wanted her real fiancé to pick out, if she hadn't given up on that idea a long time ago.

A still quiet overcame her. There it was.

The reason behind her madness. Tonight was possibly the worst time to realize that she really did want to find her happily-ever-after, someday.

Gabriella took a deep breath.

_It's just two years. It's just two years. It's just two years. _

"I think we'd better go home," Troy said softly as he reached out for her hand. Apparently he'd come to the conclusion that her _okay_ really wasn't _okay._

When he finally got her home Troy helped her to bedroom. His arm tightly around her waist as she let out long sighs and stumbled, falling back against him.

"Note to self," he muttered as he reached down to gather her up in his arms. "One drink is your limit."

She didn't say anything, she just lay there against him staring up at him with an odd look on her face. The same odd look that had been on her face all night, it was beginning to bother him. It was bad enough that dinner had been awkward as hell but then after he proposed he had the feeling her tears weren't exactly one's of joy.

"You know this whole thing was your idea," he said unable to stay quiet any longer.

"Please put me down."

Troy let out a grunt as he walked across her bedroom. "I just don't understand that little performance back there." Putting her down on the bed he watched as she shifted so she was lying on her side allowing him just enough space so that he could sit down besides her.

"We need to talk about this," he said quietly watching her as she stared out at nothing. When she didn't respond he clasps his hands together quietly. "I thought I was doing what you wanted."

"We're getting married. That was what I wanted."

"I know," Troy said getting off the bed and getting on the floor so he could be face to face with her. "The question is, but it's not what you wanted is it?"

Her eyes shifted to him, "What do want from me? I'm paying you four million dollars to do this. You can stop pretending like you care."

"Kitten," his voice soften as his hand reached out and caressed the side of her face. "You really think I don't care about you?"

She stared at him, sadness in her eyes. A tear rolled from down the side of her face and Troy let out a sigh as he stood up and removed his jacket. Next he removed his shoes and his then his tie. Quietly they didn't say anything in the darkness. He walked around to other side of the bed and climbed in.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Holding you," he said coming closer to her. His arm came over her waist hugging her to him and pulling her closer until their bodies clicked together comfortably. They lay there for a while until she finally relaxed her body beside him. Her soft curves becoming softer and her breathing beginning to even out into a peaceful rhythm.

The smell of her shampoo drifted up in his nostrils making it hard to concentrate on anything but the woman in his arms, against his body. Was their relationship still all business, or was it becoming something more? If Gabriella didn't believe in love, should Troy still feel for her as strongly as he did? He wondered when these feeling snuck up on him. Unable to stop himself, he lowered his lips down onto her shoulder and placed a small kiss there.

Gabriella shifted in his arms so she was on her back, "why do you have to kiss me that way when we're alone?"

Troy was quiet for a moment as he watched her in the dark, taking in her features and captivated by the simple beauty of her face from this close. He shifted propping himself up on his elbow so he could look down at her. "Because I want to. And you want me to," he said. "And right now it seems like the right thing to do."

"Kissing is okay I guess," she said after a moment.

Troy nodded, "We're going to be married. Kissing is bound to happen."

Gabriella lifted herself up to him and for a moment he wasn't sure what to expect. Until her lips found his in the dark, and while she was timid and hesitant at first, there was an undertone of something in her touch. The kiss burned his lips, seared his tongue, and it sent hot flames licking at his body.

His hand rested gently on her waist making the decision to follow her lead. Her kiss became urgent, brutal as if she was satisfying a pent-up need, then it slowed but remained intense and hot. When she pulled back her lips curled up into a sexy smile as her brown eyes sparkled with triumph- and damn if it didn't make his breath catch.

"Holding that in for a while were you?" he murmured.

"I've never kiss anyone like that before," she said quietly lying back down beside him.

"Why?"

"Most of the men I've dated only care about certain things, making sure the restaurant is trendy, expensive, that there are plenty of people around so they'll be seen with me. Beyond that, as long as there's plenty of champagne, they mostly don't care about me."

Troy shook his head trying to clear it. "I don't get it, you don't sound thrilled about these guys. Why date them?"

She shrugged, "It's been easy. Convenient. I'm usually too busy to give any of it much thought or effort."

"Well now everything makes sense," Troy said lifting his hand and fingering one of her curls as it lay on the pillow. "Is that why I'm here? Because you're bored with the men you normally date."

"I'm not denying it, but…" she sighed as she looked up at him. "There's so much I wanted to do, why shouldn't I want more? I've worked damn hard to establish myself and my business."

"What kind of "more" are we talking about?" he said letting his hand brush against her arm as he lowered his hand to rest on her abdomen.

Gabriella felt rather adrift all of a sudden, the weight of his touch on her lower stomach heavy with the weight of it and the awareness his masculinity. She wasn't anyone's dream wife, after all. She thought she was attractive enough, but she doubted any man had ever had sexual fantasies about her. Let alone thoughts of actually falling for her, which she hadn't realized she wanted until she was sitting at that table with a ring around her finger.

When he just looked at her some more, she gulped. "You may have been half right about me," she admitted with defeat as she looked up at the ceiling. "There is a small part of me that wishes all this was real, but I know I that it isn't and I know that it never will be."

"For fuck's sake, Gabriella." Troy sat up in bed, "We don't have to go through with any of this if you don't want to."

"It stopped being about what I want a long time ago. I can't just up and leave my company behind? What will happen to my employees? Their families? Their lives?"

"They can find new jobs," Troy answered as he watched her staring at the ceiling. "Seriously, what do you have to lose?" The woman was making him crazy.

"My heart and my independence, for starters." She shook her head and turned away from him. "You don't get it."

"Enlighten me," Troy pleaded.

"We've made it this far," she removed her ring and placed it on the nightstand. "We will see this to completion."

"I don't get it."

"Of course you don't, your simple minded. You don't see the bigger picture, the year's hard work, the late night hours, my sacrifices. To you all of this could mean nothing at all. But you're wrong. It means something to me. And if you do care like you clam to, you'll stop trying to make me change my mind about this."

Stumped, Troy laid back down staring up at the ceiling not sure how to handle what was going on between them or what was going on inside that head of hers. One minute she was driving him crazy with a kiss that so seductive and then the next it was as if she were a completely different person, cold to the touch.


	8. Chapter 8

Troy walked into his apartment, the silence wrapping around him along with a cold and strange abandonment. Kicking the door shut behind him he sorted through his stack of mail. Bill. Bill. Final notice. _Another_ final notice. Troy let out a sigh, as he threw them on the counter. He'd have to make comment about all that to Gabriella sooner or later. After all, it was part of their deal.

Looking around his apartment he felt a million miles away from his life. It felt oddly un-lived in. He'd never really gone on any sort of vacations or weekend getaways since he'd moved in. Until Gabriella, he really hadn't spent the night at someone's place either. He never felt comfortable doing it, it wasn't the intimacy of it so much as simply trying to sleep in a bed with another person. Until last night.

His walked over to his fridge and opened it. His eyes combing through his selections before reaching in and pulling things out, he really needed to start cleaning out this place. Making a decision he walked over to the trashcan and then back to the fridge where he proceeded to toss all expired items away. His mind raced with thoughts about last night.

He didn't hear from Gabriella all weekend, he spent most of it packing up his apartment. Sorting through his things and making sure he was ready for the move. On Sunday afternoon his mother called him. He hadn't been prepared for that. He hadn't really known what to say, let alone how much to say. So he stuck with the basics. He told his mom then his dad, and then because his grandmother happened to be at the house, he told her too.

By the end of the call everyone was overjoyed, he was overwhelmed. Everyone wanted to meet her, he wanted to crawl under a rock. His grandmother blessed the marriage and his gut felt as if it had been sucker punched. They made plans for next weekend. A big Bolton barbeque was in order; he couldn't stop the ball from rolling if he tried.

When the phone call was over he placed the phone on the counter top and stared at it for moment with dread. "Oh dear god," he murmured looking around his living room. He wasn't ready for all this. He wasn't ready to be someone husband.

The phone rang again, but it was the mechanic, letting him know that his car was done. They sent a courtesy shuttle to pick him about half an hour after the call and Troy was relieved. He was relieved that soon he'd be back behind the wheel of his own car. Being driven around might appeal to some but it did not have that affect for him. He missed driving. He missed his car. He missed being normal. That last thought jarred him and he got off shuttle with a sigh.

The place was oddly deserted when he stepped onto the lot and it dawned on him that it was Sunday. He wasn't even sure this place was open on Sundays. Craning his neck he searched the parking lot for his car and came up empty. That was odd.

That was when the owner of the place came out to meet him.

"Here you are, Sir," he said handing Troy and unfamiliar key.

Troy stared at the key for a moment before looking back up at the man. "This isn't mine," he said, even as the degusting reality of what was happening slowly sunk in.

"With Miss Montez's compliments," the owner muttered, pointing to a car parked nearby. The man looked almost as uncomfortable as Troy felt.

Troy turned around as he looked at the car the man pointed to. There it was. His car, if his car were about ten year's newer and sleek red with black trim.

"Same make and model, just a little bit of an upgrade," said the owner. "Miss Montez insisted. Said it was an engagement present."

Troy closed his eyes for a moment. This wasn't happing. This couldn't be happening.

"She traded your car in for it," the owner went on, clearly trying to break the awkward silence. "Knocked a thousand bucks off the asking price."

"Yeah, thanks." Troy said a little more loudly than he'd meant too. He didn't want to hear about the demise of Big Red. Didn't want to know about how she'd been sold off cheap, considered as valueless and replaceable.

Troy bit his bottom lip as he looked down at the key in his hand and hit the automatic unlock button on the key fob.

A new feature. A new feature he refused to like. Making his way towards the car he thought about her sitting in her little office smugly. Sliding into the leather seat he stuck the key into the ignition. It was such a familiar action, and yet strange at the same time.

It stank of new car.

He rolled the windows down in hopes to get rid of it as he made a beeline for her building. He had to admit of all the things she could have gift wrapped. It wasn't the most extravagant of gifts. To her, it was probably almost no money at all. But it was more car than he'd ever be able to afford. He brought Big Red out of the classifieds for a pile of wrinkled cash. He never even tried to get financing from a dealership, he knew it was pointless.

As soon as he was at her apartment he saw himself up and made his way inside her apartment. He started in the kitchen. He searched the living room. Where was she?

"Gabriella!" he shouted, as he began making his way up the steps to the second floor. "We need to talk, now."

Her office was open a coffee cup sitting on her desk, she couldn't have gone far. He walked down the hall towards her bedroom and just as he was about to lift his hand to open the door it swung open from the other side.

There she stood. In a red silk bathrobe, her hair hanging in wet ringlets around her face. The world slammed to screeching halt as the waves of his anger crashed into the blank abyss of his mind. God, she looked sexy. Troy instantly wanted to know what was under the robe. Nothing, he'd guess. He'd sure like to peel it off, discard it to the floor and run his hands through her damp hair before exploring every inch of her naked body.

"Troy?" she said looking up at him a little stunned. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk," he managed, his lips suddenly dry.

"Alright," she opened the door wider and moved aside for him to come in. "What's wrong?"

Troy hesitated for a moment before making the decision to stay in the doorway. He needed to hold on to whatever anger he could muster at the moment to take his mind off the nakedness underneath that red silk robe.

"My car." He held up the key.

Her facial expression changed from worried to one of relief, "Oh good, they called you."

Troy arched his brow as he tried to focus on the topic and not the way the red silk clung to her skin. "You traded in my car," he murmured.

Gabriella crossed her arms, "You don't have to thank me," she said with a small smile. "But you're welcome. When I called them to check up on it, they just listed a longer list of problems that made it easier and cheaper to just buy something new. And I know how much you like calling it Big Red so I made sure it was red."

Troy's anger flared up at the reminder of the bright red car sitting outside. "That's not how that works." He said sternly. "That is not Big Red _that_ is an imposter."

"I'm sorry," her hands fisted as she placed them on her waist. Her robe opened a little bit, enough to display some cleavage. "Do you not like surprises?"

"Surprises?" Troy huffed, "a surprise is something like 'oh hey, I brought you this coffee from across the street because I happened to be there anyway.' Not like, 'oh hey, here's a new car!"

Gabriella sighed as she rolled her eyes at him, "Does everything have to be about money with you?"

"You got rid of my car! You don't get rid of a man's car."

"Alright," Gabriella walked back into the room leaving him at the doorway, "I didn't mean to make you so upset about it. I just wanted to do something nice. I know this hasn't been easy for you but fine, I'm the villain." She punched some numbers into her phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting your car back from the junk yard," she shrugged.

"You junked it!" his voice squeaked as he reached his hands up to hold his head. He couldn't contain the amount of anger bubbling inside him. His vision blurred momentarily and he reached out to put a hand on the door frame.

"Oh for god sakes it's just a car."

Troy let out huff as he tossed his hands up, "You know what?" Troy turned around and began making his way for the stairs. "Just forget it."

"Troy, don't walk away from me!"

"I'm sorry I wasted your time with my poor people sentimentally," Troy called over his shoulder. "Some of us aren't as fortunate enough to just buy new things. Some of us have to work for what we have and while they don't look like much, they mean a lot because we have to earn them," he bit out as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "It's not just some car, it was my car. Something I brought, with my own money."

"I didn't know," she said as she stopped midway down the stairs. "I thought it was the nice thing to do, okay. I just …I thought it would make you happy." Her hands came up in frustration as she took another step down, "I'm not good at this stuff."

"At what? Talking?" Troy said shoving his hands in his pockets as he turned around to face her from the bottom of the stairs.

"Talking. Communicating. Relationship stuff. If this were a real relationship I would become a weird scary version of myself."

"You mean it gets weirder," Troy huffed.

"Now is not the time for your jokes," she said as began to descend the rest of the stairs.

"So what now?"

Gabriella came to the main floor, their height difference more apparent from this angle. Looking up at him she let out a breath and lowered her eyes over his torso as if passing a judgment. "Would you like a drink?"

Troy's eyes narrowed as he watched her turn and make her way to the kitchen. "You just might be the most confusing woman, I've ever met."

"Could say the same about you," she said opening a cabinet and reaching for two tumblers.

"No, not even close. I'm a very simple man. Do know how hard it is to concentrate when you're wearing that?"

Gabriella didn't say word she simply reached for the whiskey bottle from her cabinet and poured a small amount in each glass.

"Whiskey?"

Gabriella nodded, "For the tougher days."

"Right," Troy placed his hands on the counter and looked at the glass in front of him.

"Do you not drink whiskey?"

His eyes darted upwards at her, just a few nights ago she'd kissed him like nobody's business. He could still feel the soft plush of her lips against his. That when he returned his attention back to her attire. "What are you doing?"

"Offering you a drink," Gabriella lifted the drink to her lips and tossed it back. The action shifted the robe once again and catching his attention as a she relaxed a little. The robe was short. It showed off the long expanse of her legs as the hem of it rested on her thighs. It was impossible to keep his erection from straining against his jeans.

Did she always walk around the house like that after a bath? Was she wearing it for any special reasons? It made her look promiscuous even though he knew better. She was a beautiful woman whether she really knew it or not. The kind that could make view impossible to resist. Between the house, the lifestyle and Gabriella's to die for kisses … one could get swept away.

Under ordinary circumstances. But these weren't ordinary circumstances. Troy could never let himself forget that. The world was not his oyster. He didn't have much to his name these days but he did have a contract, a two year commitment to the woman standing in front of him.

He might never be truly content, but he'd bet he'd be a lot happier with four million bucks than without it. Money might not buy happiness, but he wagered it'd soften the blow.

"I am sorry I got rid of your car," Gabriella said quietly. "I didn't know it would mean that much to you."

Troy picked up his drink and downed it quickly before setting the glass back down on the table. The quick bitter burn making its way down his throat as he did his best not to lose face. "I'll survive."

"Good to hear it," she collected their glasses and turned around to put them in the sink. "Have you thought about moving in yet?"

"Is that what you want?" Troy countered, "I mean you don't want to wait till after the wedding. Avoid the whole living in sin stick?"

Gabriella turned to face him her eyes studying him closely. "I don't care what other people think about my lifestyle. You don't pay the bills with their opinions."

"Wow, no wonder they call you the ice queen."

Her facial expression flickered for an instant and he regretted saying anything at all. She glanced down at her kitchen counter and for a moment he wanted to touch her, reassure her, just let know that she wasn't some kind of monster.

"I could hire movers if you like, let me know if there is anything you need. I'll take care of it," her voice was robotic, forced and concise. The look in her eyes distant. This woman could fence off the entire world in a second and invert into herself without a signal hesitation or skip in conversation. If he hadn't known her so well he might have even missed the vulnerability displayed just moments before.

"I'll just ask my friends to help, it's not like I have much."

She lifted a hand passing it through her damp hair as she thought quietly to herself. She was certainly pretty, but in an effortless and unconventional way. Her dark curls tousled around her face, her big cinnamon brown eyes, and her pink lips in a pout that made him want to make good use of that mouth of hers.

Troy eyes dropped down to the robe again, his breathing becoming a little less controlled as thought about pulling the silky red ribbon knot at her waist and unwrapping her like Christmas present. She was still completely oblivious of her wardrobe's affect on him. Just another testament to how feisty and determined, smart and strong-willed she was. And damn, if that wasn't a total turn –on. He liked that sort of challenge. Like the hunt, and liked the capture even more.

Though she'd likely tell him to go fuck himself under normal circumstances, he now had something she wanted. Something she needed. And this wasn't a normal circumstance.

"Then that's settled," she signed with relief as she moved around the table making her way back towards the stairs.

"Not so fast," he murmured as his arm reached out in a lightning-quick move, and she found herself pinned to his muscular body with a strong arm wrapped around her waist, she cursed under her breath, her struggles futile. He brushed the hair from her face, his touch lingering against her skin.

"What are you doing?" she asked placing her hands on his chest and providing some distance. Despite all her thoughts to keep him at arm's length and not let him have an effect on her, she was finding it impossible. Her breathing was coming in shallow gasps as her nipples went hard against his chest. She could help her body's reaction to him taking control, even as her mind protested it.

"Something I've wanted to since you first flung that door open." He lowered his head, bit her bottom lip and then, as she parted her lips in surprise, covered her mouth in a forceful kiss, his tongue thrusting against hers as he tightened his grip. Unable to escape, her body gave up its fight and succumbed to the fire he'd stoked in her, softening against his muscular form.

He deepened their kiss so she felt it down to her very core, his hands running up her waist to cup her breasts through the silk fabric, teasing her nipples so she felt a corresponding tug between her legs. When a needy whimper escaped her lips, he swallowed it, claimed it as his, leaving her unable to think clearly. Her brain told her to run but her body had other ideas, her tongue clashing with his as she fisted her hands in his shirt and her hip shifted against his long hard bulge, desperate to feel him fill her, stretch her so tight, he'd having her coming with a single thrust.

He broke the kiss pulling away from her with slow smile growing on his lips. _Curse him._ Gabriella cleared her throat. "Maybe we should stop doing that."

"Why?" He needed to know.

She had to think about it, which was good, because he didn't want to be the only one shaken by this. "I don't know you well enough."

"What do your instincts tell you?"

For a moment she stared at him, then shrugged helplessly, unable, or unwilling to answer. Troy didn't push it. He could seduce her, he'd been out of the game for a while but he still remembered how it all worked. He could easily kiss her senseless and back her up into a wall somewhere, find that infamous spot on her neck that made her tremble that first night he sat near her at dinner.

Nuzzling her, his lips wondered to her ear, his hot breath on her skin contrasting with the cool air of her apartment, sending a shiver over her skin as she clung to him. "You're one challenging woman," he said quietly. "But as I said before I'm a very simple man and I like this robe."

She swallowed the moan that wanted to escape. Desperate to keep him from seeing the truth of just how bad she wanted him. "I'm not going to sleep with you," she gave him a teasing glare, her full lips pursed as if in thought. "It's not part of our deal."

"Think what you want Kitten, but we both know that if we were to throw away all the pretenses, you'd find that you not only like me, but you want me. Just as bad as I want you. Admit it." He knew he was being arrogant, but he didn't care because he knew it was the truth.

"Who even talks like that?" She shook her head as she tried to pull free of him with a halfhearted attempt, he refused to let her go.

"This is different," he said catching her attention. "You might be able to control everything else, but trust me, this you won't be able to."

"And why not?"

Troy let her go and instead of backing away from she stood in place with curves pressed to his body.

"Because underneath all those power suits and rules. You're just like the rest of us."

She inhaled sharply as she backed away from him realizing her freedom. "I'm not going to sleep with you, Troy. It's not happening." She couldn't, even if he looked like a sex god. He was dangerous, in so many ways, and the root of her current problem. Their little agreement might give him a whole lot of leeway, but it was the one thing she'd taken off the table and she had to hold onto that.

"Keep telling yourself that and maybe one of us will start to believe it," He smirked as he began making his way for the door.

"Are you going to be a pain in the ass every time I have to deal with you?"

"Oh no maim," he said turning around and walking backwards towards the front door. "I plan to be nothing but a perfect gentleman. Scout's honor."

She was momentarily diverted. "You were in the Scouts?"

"Nope," he said turning and reaching for the door. "Just pledging their honor."

Before she could say anything else he was gone. Her legs were trembling and it had nothing to do with air on her damp skin. Something odd just happened and she felt lightheaded and breathless. It wasn't desire, it was awareness. He attracted her. He just did. The moment he left she came to a sharp conclusion that she didn't want him to go.

"Fuck."


	9. Chapter 9

Troy arrived at work the next morning, essentially it was the beginning of his last week on the job. When he arrived at his desk he paused cautiously when he saw a group of smiling men standing nearby. Sitting on his desk was a news article written in the business section of the paper. _New York's Software Queen Becomes A Bride._ His eyes shifted upward and the men almost seemed to burst at the seams as they swarmed around him to congratulate him.

"Bolton!"

"Congratulations you sly son of a bitch."

"Nice work."

Troy nodded as he extricated himself from someone's grip with some difficulty. "We were keeping things quiet for a while, obviously, but…"

"I'll tell you Bolton," Chris said as he came in closer, "When you put in your two weeks last week I thought you were tired of us, but now I see this," he motioned to the paper. "I know you were just shackin it up with the boss. Can't say that I blame you."

Troy felt a pang of something in his gut as he tried to keep up a happy appearance.

"Life is about to change for you huh?" a random man laughed, "I seen your new wheels, starting off modest, what a genius."

"Well," Troy said a little put off, "It's not all about that, she's really nice and amazing actually."

"Yeah right!" Someone slapped him on the back and Troy gritted his teeth.

"When's the bachelor party?"

Troy shook his head, "I don't think that's necessary."

"Dude, do you know who you're about to settle down with?"

Troy let out a breath as he looked around at the small gathering of employees, he hardly even knew these many people. Before he could begin to make his way out of the herd Chris roped his arm around his shoulder, "Friday night, we'll all get together and hit up a few strip joints, what do ya say?"

"I don't think Gabriella would be happy about that?"

"Okay. I get it. Little bit of a jealous type, huh?"

Troy shrugged, "I dunno if I'd say that."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that! Personally I think jealousy can be pretty hot."

Troy inwardly groaned. Thankfully after a while the chatter died down and people fell into the vortex of office life. As soon as he could he made a beeline for the elevators with the newspaper in hand and took it straight up to her floor. Coming off the elevator he was greeted with a smiles, applause, murmurs of congratulations, and a few good lucks.

When he approached the door to her office he glanced back at her secretary who was staring at him oddly.

"Is she busy?" he asked.

"Oh no," she blushed looking down from him. "You can go right in Mr. Bolton."

Troy rolled his eyes as he entered her office and shut the door behind himself.

Gabriella spent most of her morning on the phone, answering questionings. Now she sat at her desk reviewing contracts she had to discuss this evening at the board meeting. Normally falling into her work was easy but today the task was harder than usual. She kept thinking about Troy, about last night, about the things she let him do to her. She felt a warmth flow through her. She didn't recognize the feeling, exactly. She wasn't very experienced with men. It seemed her life was involved with more mundane activities.

She was out of her element. Taylor had been right. Her eyes wondered to the plant on the corner of her desk. However, there was something about his composure. Something that said he was good at taking the lead. And for reasons she couldn't comprehend she was more than willing to have him do just that. No one had ever excited her like that before.

Had it been a fluke? A onetime thing? A lost in judgment?

He seemed bold and dangerous, yet fun and exciting which confused her. The sound of her door being shut jarred her from her concentration and she looked up from her plant.

"Good morning."

Just the sight of him excited her. Shifting her legs tighter together Gabriella raised a brow, "Morning."

Troy's smile pulled a little at the sides as he watched her shift in her chair, "You alright boss?"

Gabriella glanced down and closed the manila folder on the report she was working on. Placing it to the side, she offered him her undivided attention, "What's the problem Mr. Bolton?"

Troy held up the newspaper in his hand, "Have you seen this yet?"

Gabriella glanced at the headline and read it for the fifth time that morning, "Yes I've seen it."

Troy raised a brow as he approached her desk, "I just had the entire IT department offer to take me out to a strip joint on Friday."

"Fantastic," Gabriella said.

"No," Troy interjected. "Not fantastic."

Gabriella tilted her head, "Aren't men supposed to do that sorta thing?"

"Maybe before the internet?" Troy grimaced as he leaned on the desk a little, "Plus I don't like them, I doubt that bare breast and dim lighting are going to change that."

A brief shadow passed over her face in response to something he'd said. "Well no one's talked to me yet. I'm not sure why."

"I don't know, fear maybe?" Troy let out a sigh as he stood up straight. "Well, I sincerely hope someone offers to take you to see strippers before the day is out. I wouldn't want you to miss out on that experience."

Her phone rang and she reached for the button answering the call via speaker phone, "Yes Tracy?"

"Your conference is about to begin, would you like me to tell them you'll be late."

"No, I'll be right there." Gabriella said before hitting the button again. It bothered him, the way she talked to people who worked for her. It always seemed like she was giving out orders rather than speaking to them.

Gabriella features shifted as she sat up straighter in her seat. Troy had grown quiet all of a sudden. It bothered her when he did that. She didn't like wondering if she'd done something or said something wrong. His disappointed looks showered her with feelings of inadequacy.

"Is there anything else?" Gabriella stood up and gathered her files.

"Yes, we have to visit my parents this weekend." Troy said with a small sigh, "They're throwing a barbeque for us."

"What?" her knees buckled as she fell back down into her chair.

"Yeah, just some old friends and family," Troy wiped his hands on his jeans. "All we have to do is book a flight."

When she didn't say anything else Troy leaned forward, "Are you okay?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Troy's small smile pulled a little at the corners. "My parents? This weekend," he murmured.

"Right. I'll make arrangements." Her eyes widen as she shot up from her seat. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a meeting to get to."

"Whatever you say," Troy said watching as she hurried out from around her desk and towards the door. When she was gone he let out a sigh and brought a hand up through hair ruffling through it as he contemplated that woman and all her oddness.

Later that day Troy enlisted Kelsi and Ryan to help him move out of apartment and into Gabriella's flat. Mostly everything was in boxes already. They spent the evening loading up a U-Haul, and every time they lifted a box he felt bad for not just hiring a moving service. But knowing Kelsi and Ryan this was probably the best way to go about breaking the news about his new status.

"You don't think this is moving a bit fast?" Ryan said as he lifted a box from the counter labeled kitchen dishes.

"It just makes sense," Troy said labeling another box. "I'm rarely here. I'm just paying for utilities and space I'm not using."

"Sure," Kelsi said as she came through the door for another box. "We'll pretend that notice on door requesting you to evacuate means absolutely nothing."

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "That's just suggestion made by a confused landlord."

Ryan made his way out the apartment roaring with laughter as he took two more boxes down to the car.

"Seriously, Troy this is not like you at all." Kelsi made her way over to where Troy was packing some last minute items. "Do you know what you're getting into, moving in with someone is a big responsibility?"

"I thought you liked her."

"I do like her," Kelsi took the sharpie from him before he could label the box. "But I like you more and I want you to think about this."

Troy shifted his weight as he placed both hand on top of the box in front of him. "I have thought about this." Troy paused as he took a breath, "I asked her to marry me Kelsi."

Kelsi facial features shifted her entire expression morphed from concern to hopeless romantic. "You're getting married."

"That's the plan." Troy felt a pinch in his gut, he hated lying to his friends and this was damn near killing him. Kelsi and Ryan loved him more than anything. They fed him three times a week and always let come over to watch television when he was lonely. He made a mental note to set up a trust fund for Michelle as soon as he could. If anything good came out of this he could at least pay them back for all their generosity by making sure Michelle had a promising future.

"I can't believe you're getting married!" Her arms swung around him before he had a chance to shift gears. Troy wrapped his arms around her and welcomed the hug, relieved for a moment that it hadn't been as hard as he thought.

"Oh hell no," Ryan's voice caught their attention and Kelsi pulled away to see him standing in the door. "I leave for three minutes and you're trying make a move on my wife."

"He's getting married!" Kelsi announced.

Ryan was quiet for a moment as he glanced over at Troy with a questioning gaze. "You?"

"Me," Troy responded with a grin.

"That poor woman," Ryan murmured as he walked towards another box.

It was a bit of a shock to see her apartment with boxes scattered all over it. Upon entry she froze as she heard laughter coming from the living room. Not to say that she herself hadn't had the occasional guest, but there was rarely if ever sounds of laughter and discussion filling her home. At least she'd never come home to the sounds of someone in her home before.

"This place is amazing, I can't get over the view." A woman's voice said.

Gabriella walked further inside dropping her keys into the bowl on her hall table. The main floor was littered with boxes, some piled by the stairs. When she finally made her way into the living area she seen Ryan and Kelsi sitting on the floor surrounding her coffee table that was covered in open pizza boxes.

"There you are," Troy said as he came into view from the kitchen carrying two glasses for their guest. "I got the moving out of the way. I hope you don't mind the mess."

Gabriella shook her head as she glanced around a little out of place in her own home. "This is everything?"

"Everything," Troy said as he glanced around the apartment. "No idea where to put it all."

"Obviously," Gabriella looked over at Ryan and Kelsi, "I wasn't aware we'd be having company tonight."

"Don't worry about it, it's just food as payment for helping me move all my stuff."

"You're paying them with pizza?" Gabriella blinked a few times as she looked back down at the greasy pies in her living room.

"Why don't you go change and then come join us," Troy offered politely.

Gabriella nodded as she waved at Kelsi and Ryan, "I'll be right down then," she murmured as she headed up the stairs. Once she was in the sanctuary of her bedroom her lips parted in a gasp as she found more boxes. He was everywhere. Her eyes darted around her once clean bedroom now cluttered with boxes and lamp that was shaped like dog.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"You alright?"

Gabriella jerked as she turned around to find Troy coming into the bedroom behind her and shutting the door.

"For someone who claims to have nothing you have a lot of … of something's," she said motioning towards the lamp.

"Do you want to pitch everything into a bonfire?" he asked with a smirk, "Because I don't think anything I own goes with this apartment."

Gabriella let out a long sigh as she looked around her bedroom, "So you're sleeping in here?"

"That would be how it works," Troy said a little unsure about himself. "At least per you're agreement, I can continue to sleep in the guest room if you like."

Gabriella placed a hand on her temple as she tried to think, a task she couldn't even begin to do with Troy standing this close.

Troy shoved his hands in his pockets. "I hope it's alright that I have people over."

"That's fine," she said a little out of breath, "I mean, it's your home too now. Why wouldn't you be allowed to have guest." Gabriella put her briefcase down on the bed and removed her blazer. She needed to put her dream world behind her and focus on the present. Anxiously, she wondered if she could stay focused on anything but Troy, especially with him so close that his male pheromones were making her swoon. She had to get herself together.

"Should I dress casual for this?" her voice was raspier than she intended.

"Jeans and t-shirt are fine," he informed her as he watched her closely. He watched as she reached behind her, contorting arms to reach the zipper of her dress.

"Here let me," he said coming up behind her and gently pulling the zipper free.

It was a simple act. Nothing flirtatious about it and yet the temperature between them shot up.

"Thank you," she said holding the front of her dress up and turning around to face him her eyes landing on his broad chest that filled out his white t-shirt quite well. Her mouth instantly filled with saliva like some kind of animal. _So this is what they mean when they say something looks 'mouth-watering.' _She thought. She totally got it now. In an effort to avoid drooling, she swallowed, but to her own ears it sounded like a shockingly loud gulp.

"You alright?" he asked with amusement dancing in his eyes, "You seem jumpy."

"I'm fine," she lied. She wasn't fine at all. She was confused and anxious. Ridden by day dreams of him, maybe desires was more like it, because his kiss had affected her, a virgin. A virgin who was quickly turning into a wanna be sex kitten. "You can go now, I have to change."

"See you downstairs." With a smile, he was gone. No mention of yesterday's kiss. No regrets. No promises.

Did all this mean nothing to him? It wasn't even worth talking about?

As he was gone she raced for the door and locked it taking deep breath inside of her sanctuary. Nothing like a little dose of eye-opening reality to put things into prospective. Gabriella gave herself an imaginary kick in ass. She couldn't fall for him. It wasn't smart. Even if he was her soon to be husband.

Troy made his way down the staircase with a small smile hard to hide on his lips. He'd wanted to say something about the kiss, but Gabriella was already uncomfortable as it was. Imagine that, Mrs. Montez CEO and President of multimillion dollar company who was always calm, cool and collective was frazzled.

"Is she alright?" Kelsi asked placing her glass down and watching Troy descend the stairs.

"Yeah," Troy nodded as he walked towards them and took a seat on the floor, "She just needed help unzipping that dress. Honestly some of the things you women wear are incredibly complicated."

"And expensive," Ryan huffed as he reached for another slice.

Kelsi raised a brow as she looked over at Ryan, "I don't hear you complaining when shop at Victoria Secret."

"Because that's really for me, more than you." Ryan chuckled.

Troy smirked a little as he picked up a slice of pizza, he admired what Ryan and Kelsi had together. He found himself craving the same kind of relationship for himself most of the time he was around them. For a small moment he thought about what it would be like if this whole thing was real.

Troy quickly nixed the idea. Certainly yesterday's interactions we're having affect of sorts on him as well. Honestly having an attraction for one another is one thing, having affections is another, and while he did have a growing amount of affection for her he was more than sure it was not going to be returned anytime soon.

"Seriously, none of your stuff is worthy of this apartment." Ryan cut into his thoughts as he reached into an open bin and pulled out a Bud Light tin sign.

"I guess I can make like a man cave out of one of the guest rooms?" Troy winced as he looked at the sign. "She said I could make one of the rooms a home office. It might not be such a bad idea."

"Are you really quitting your job?" Kelsi asked a little more concerned as she sat up right. "I mean do you think that's wise?"

"Well if I stay at Software Solutions people might start treating me different," Troy explained, "actually they sort of already started."

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked putting the tin sign off to the side.

"I don't know people are acting like I'm some kind of hot shot all of a sudden," Troy shrugged his shoulders. "Even some of the women are staring at me funny too."

"That's because you're no longer available," Kelsi smiled, "you're about to get married, do you know how sexy it is to find a man these days who is actually willing to take that step."

"I think it has a lot more to do with the size of his soon be bank account," Ryan corrected.

Kelsi rolled her eyes as she gave him a shove. "Grow up."

"I agree. People will treat you differently the moment they realize you have money," the sound of Gabriella's voice made them all turn to see her coming down the steps in a pair skinny jeans and baby blue v neck. She'd pulled her hair back into her practical pony tail and it swished a little as she moved.

_Look who owns a pair of denim. _Troy's brows shot up at the sight. "Hey," his voice said as he patted the floor next him.

"We didn't mean anything by our conversation," Kelsi offered in apology, "We're just trying to wrap our brains around all of this."

"Oh no, that alright," Gabriella looked at the floor and hesitated before she decided to sit on the couch just a little bit behind Troy. "I expect that you would have questions, you care about your friend and you would hope he's not being foolish."

Troy glanced back at their sitting arrangement; his smile shifted. So classy, so snob like, so annoyingly well mannered. It gave him urges to drag her to the floor from that couch.

"Well, I wouldn't want to quit working," Kelsi said shifting from her spot to grab another slice of pizza. "I'd go crazy. I'm like one of those sheepdogs that always needs something to occupy my time, or I'll destroy everything."

"She's adorable isn't she?" Ryan chimed as he mockingly scratched her behind the ear.

Gabriella let out a laugh as Kelsi swatted at Ryan playfully. Troy leaned back maneuvering himself in-between her legs and resting there peaceful as he felt her hand on his shoulder.

"So Gabriella," Ryan began. "I feel like everything I know about you, I've read in an article or online," Ryan said shifting a little closer to Kelsi. "However, I still feel like it's my duty to integrate you."

"If you've done your research there's no point trying to impress you," Gabriella smirked.

"You could tell me that your bio was grossly exaggerated," he joked as he reached for his drink.

"I'm afraid that's all true," she sighed, "It's been a struggle to build an entire business in male dominated field. Men do not like being challenged, especially when it's a woman who's doing the challenging."

"You're parents must be so proud of all you've accomplished."

"My mother passed," Gabriella said a little more solemnly. "Never really knew who my father was. My mother was a feminist. She believed she could do everything a man could do if not better. So she decided to raise me on her own as some sort of point."

"Do you miss her?" Kelsi offered in a soft voice.

Gabriella was quiet for a moment, "the expectations that a parent can place on a child can be taken in two ways. To the world it can the encouragement that stems from the pride of your child and to your child it can be a prison cell of having unfulfilled dreams and a sense of unworthiness."

There was silence for a moment before Troy's hand came up to hers and took hold of it and gently bringing it to his lips for a kiss. "You're amazing."

"I didn't mean to suck all the fun out of the room," she said quietly looking around at them.

"Nonsense," Kelsi smiled warmly. "It's all part of getting to know you, I mean we might as well be sister-in-laws. Ryan and Troy have been friends forever; we always want you to feel welcomed into our family."

"Just what I've always wanted for Michelle, a rich aunt," Ryan joked earning hard nudge from Kelsi.

"Don't listen to him."

They continued to converse, only Troy was no longer paying any attention. His mind had drifted to other places, his thumb gently rubbing the back of Gabriella's hand as she laughed and listened to Ryan and Kelsi bicker and bring up stories from Troy's college days. He didn't mind being poked fun at, in fact this was probably nothing compared to what waited for them when they went to visit his parents.

His heart squeezed a little tighter as he thought about Gabriella and her mother.


	10. Chapter 10

Gabriella fidgeted, lacing her fingers together in her lap as they sat in the back of the cab. How on earth was she ever going to convince his entire family? There were so many of them. Parents, a grandmother, he talked about aunts and uncles, cousins even. She'd never experienced the chaos of a big family. It had always been just her and her mother. Even the holidays were quiet.

"Will you relax," he said for the fourth time since they landed in New Mexico.

"What if they know?"

"How will they know?" Troy countered as he looked away from the window and back at her. In the last week they'd spent a great deal of time avoiding each other. Gabriella had gone from work into her home office and Troy had been busy unpacking, and reorganizing his new office/ man cave. He wasn't sure what they were doing just yet other cohabiting.

They really hadn't had a chance to talk until yesterday when Troy brought up the mail and found a letter from the INS about Gabriella paperwork. They would be expected to come in for an interview. At this point it was just waiting for a call.

"I feel like such a fraud," she murmured as she continued to fidget.

Troy's hand slipped in between her and took one of her hands. "Kitten you need to relax. They're just my parents."

"I've never met anyone's parents before."

"It's going to be fine," Troy chuckled as cab turned off the main road and followed a tree-lined avenue. "My mother will love you."

"Why?"

"Because you both have me in common," he offered with a small smile.

"I'm doomed."

Troy laughed again and Gabriella felt her insides flicker. No she had to get those flickers under control. She had to stop feeling things.

The cab came to a stop in front of a faded blue single family home. It was tiny and unpretentious. Not at all what Gabriella had expected, but cute in a homey kind of way. Troy helped her out of the cab and then went to the back for their things.

Gabriella followed him up the drive to the house watching as he stopped at the open door.

"Is something wrong?"

"I don't know?" he said quietly looking down at a gardening trowel as it lay abandoned on the doorstep. His pulse quickened, and though he told himself not to panic he shouted. "Mom!"

Three heart-stopping seconds of silence and then a faint reply sounded from the inside. "I'm out back."

Troy let out a sigh as he led Gabriella inside the dimly lit interior of his childhood home, "How many times do I have to tell you guys not to just leave the front door open like that? Anyone can just walk in."

As soon as they came to the back doors a crowd greeted them.

"Surprise!"

Troy jerk from the shouting and was caught off guard when Gabriella turned and buried her face into his shirt. Instinctively he wrapped an arm around her waist and could feel her shaking slightly. "Sorry," he murmured, "Their excited, but they mean well."

Troy's mother raced over holding out her arms. "My baby! He's home!"

In a vice grip of his mother arms Troy motioned with his free arm. "Mom this is Gabriella, Gabriella this woman attempting to kill me is my mother."

"So dramatic," Lucile pulled away and then pulled Gabriella into her vice like grip. "I'm so happy to finally meet you."

"Don't underestimate her strength," Troy warned as he shifted his attention to his father. "Hey dad, how's it going?"

"This was all your mother's idea," Jack said quietly as he shook his son's hand.

Gabriella nodded a little uncertain as she lifted a hand to the Lucile's back. "It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Bolton."

"Oh please call me Lucile, we're family now!"

"Right,"

"Let me get a look at her!" A smaller woman pushed her way through the crowd as she came up to Troy and Gabriella. "This is the woman who's going to marry my grandson."

"Hi grandma," Troy greeted, "This is Gabriella, Gabriella this is Grandma."

"Hello, Mrs. Bolton senior?" Gabriella said unsure.

"Oh honey call you just call me grandma," the older woman with blue-ish hair said as she patted Gabriella's hand. "Here let me get a good look at you."

"Excuse me?" Gabriella looked over at Troy who nodded and then looked back at the older woman who was taking a step back to give Gabriella a once over. This older woman was nothing like the traditional sense of a grandmother she'd ever heard about. From her electric blue spandex pants to her bright purple peasant top.

"You have good hips," his grandmother said, "She's gonna make a lots of grandbabies."

"Oh, no. I don't, I mean my hips are normal." Gabriella said trying to cross her arms over herself anxiously.

"Nonsense, give my grandson one night and you'll be good and pregnant."

Gabriella eyes exploded and Troy swooped in placing an arm over her shoulder, "Alright guys, let not completely traumatize her. I still have to get her to walk down the aisle."

"Right," Lucile said with a smile, "We have so much to talk about, when's the big day?"

Gabriella felt light headed as she tried to keep up with everything around her. "Big day?" she heard herself ask.

"The wedding?" Lucile asked.

"Oh," Gabriella shook her head. "I was going to hire a wedding planner."

"Nonsense!" Lucile roped Gabriella into her arms, "We'll sit down this weekend and plan the whole thing, Come on we have so many family members to meet."

Troy gave her his best supporting smile as he watched Gabriella become swallowed into the crowd of Bolton's. His hand came up and rubbed the back of his neck as he contemplated attempting to follow her.

"She'll be fine," a familiar voice laughed.

Troy ears perked as he turned around to see Sharpay standing behind him. A vision for sore eyes, her blue torn up jeans and white tang top hung close to her body. Her golden blond sun kissed hair was pulled back into a tame but carefree ponytail.

"What on earth are you doing here?"

"Figured I'd swing by and see what all the fuss was about," Sharpay shrugged her shoulders. "Not every day your high school sweetheart swoops into town with his high class CEO fiancé."

"You Googled the hell out of her didn't you?" he teased with a sly grin.

"Does a bear shit in the woods?" she said hanging an arm over his shoulder.

Troy laughed as he looked out into the yard to see three of his aunts admiring the ring on Gabriella's finger. "That's her," he said with a twinge of pride he hadn't expected.

"Aw," Sharpay nudge him as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Look at you, all in love."

Troy raised a brow as he looked over at Sharpay, "What about you?"

"Me?" Sharpay stood up right and let out a laugh, "You know me. I'm a free spirit I don't do the whole relationship thing."

"Really then what was I," Troy teased.

"Monumental mistake I'd never regret," she said with a curled smile. "Maybe even one I'd like to repeat?"

Troy brow shot up as he looked back over at Gabriella incased in a growing crowd of people. "Sorry, that's not gonna happen," he countered a little bewildered by her bluntness.

"Oh please, you can drop the act with me." Sharpay tilted her head as she watched Gabriella as well. "You found a rich girl and you laid on the charm. Now you get to sit nice and pretty with your very own sugar mamma. It's genius."

"It's not the truth," Troy frowned.

"Then what are you marrying her for? Because you have nothing in common with her."

"You don't know that Sharpay," Troy said getting a little annoyed by their conversation. "I have changed since the last time we were together."

"Changed maybe? But you're not a completely different person. I'm not the only person thinking it you know."

Troy narrowed his eyes.

"Oh come one day you can't make rent, the next you call home and announce your engagement to a millionaire? What it did you do Troy answer an ad in the papers? Does she needs a green card or something?"

Troy inhaled sharply and turned too looked away.

"Troy… you didn't."

Gabriella held her hand out for what felt like a millionth time. Honestly she'd never expected this much fuss over something so tiny.

"Tell us," a woman said as she placed a hand on Gabriella shoulder. "Where did you two meet? Was it romantic? I want to hear all about it." The enthusiasm in her voice fueled Gabriella's mounting fear.

"I suppose it was, Troy tells the story a lot better than I do." Pulling her hand back she crossed her arms over her chest hoping it would deflect some of the millions of questions getting tossed at her. This was worse than a board meeting with investors. Worse than a sales pitch with a client who had no interest in the sale.

"Will the wedding be here or in New York?"

"Are you going to have a long engagement?"

"How many kids are you planning on having?"

"How did he purpose?"

"Did you know right away?"

_Who were all these people?_ Gabriella glanced around looking for a way out. She needed a moment, to catch her breath, to think, to plot out a course of action. Glancing across the yard she saw Troy talking to a woman. Not just any kind of woman but the epitome of the beautiful girl-next-door. Gabriella knew the type. With her blonde hair and green-eyed good looks, she was everything all the other girls in school detested and yet desired to be. And she was probably nice as hell to boot.

They looked close. Really close. The kind of close that made it okay for her to sling an arm around his shoulder, to laugh at something he said with a smile that could give puppies a run for their money. The bottom of her stomach seemed to drop.

"Dear you look a little pale, are you alright?"

"Maybe it's the heat?"

She rested her palm to her forehead. Doubts over this entire mess wobbled in her head. How was she going to do this? She wasn't a family kind of person. She didn't want to be part of a family. She was fine on her own, she'd made it this far.

"Dear?"

"Excuse me," she said pushing her way past everyone and making a beeline back inside the house.

Troy watched as Gabriella made a run for it. "Shit," he muttered under his breath turning back to his mother who was looking at him with concern.

"I'm sorry?" she offered.

Troy turned back towards Sharpay, "We need to talk. Don't say anything until we do."

"Yeah we do," she called after him.

Troy made his way inside looking around the dimly lit living room for any signs of her. "Gabriella?" he called out.

"I want to leave."

Troy turned around to see her standing in the kitchen with a glass of water in her hands.

"We just got here."

"Tell them I have a business conference."

Troy let out a breath as he walked towards her, "What's wrong?"

Gabriella avoided his gaze, her eyes shifting from the Goose shaped cookie jar on the table to her glass of water.

"Kitten?" he said lifting a hand to touch her bare shoulder. She'd worn a baby blue summer dress for the flight, sleek and polished as always. Her hair pinned back expertly in that concise little bun of hers.

"I told you, I've never met anyone's parents before."

"But you have met humans before right?" Troy smiled weakly. "I hear there kind of one in the same."

Gabriella couldn't help the small huff that escaped her lips as she tried her best to turn away from him. "I don't understand why we're doing this, our agreement is temporary. I won't even be around long enough for them to remember who I am."

Troy let out a laugh as he wrapped an arm around her waist, "Kitten, I can tell you right now you're going to be pretty impossible to forget."

She felt good in his arms. Her body fit against his like a glove, familiar, comforting, and good. Too good. And the topic at hand filled him with disappointment.

"You have a big family."

"I do." Troy said pulling her closer to him and resting his chin on her shoulder. "And they mean well." Troy's arms held onto to her waist for a little while longer savoring how right it felt to hold her. "How about we try it again and this time, I'll hold your hand."

"Your family probably thinks I'm strange."

Troy stood up straight and spun her around so they were facing one another, "Were you there when my grandmother told you about the getting pregnant thing?"

Gabriella looked up at him with a smile and he couldn't help himself. When she dropped her guard, for about one millisecond, her smile was breathtaking.

He kissed her, pulling her close, cupping the nape of her neck with one hand. With a moan, she settled into him and he forgot everything but exploring that incredible mouth, moist, full, and bitable.

Following her lead, he kept it tender, reveling in the contact between her tentative tongue and the unconscious pressing of those lush breasts against his chest. When they came up for air he stood quiet. Watching her reaction, gauging her response, wondering if he could do it again.

"Do you always kiss like that?" she said a little out of breath.

"When inspired," he answered not letting her go just yet.

Gabriella let out a slow breath, "I think we should go back out there."

Later that evening, the general questions about the wedding seemed to simmer down. His aunts and uncles thankfully gave them a little space to socialize and breath. He'd also admit that it felt good to have a reason to keep her close. A reason to hold her, pull her into him at random. It was nice falling into this role and she seemed to ease into it too.

Troy couldn't help but admire her, it seemed that laughter lightened Gabriella's seriousness and made her all the more accessible. Accessible to him, her hand would lightly fall on his knee. She'd lean into him during conversations. For the first time in a long time he got the impression she was actually enjoying herself and not worry about the plan or reasons behind it.

Troy sat at the cards table with Gabriella by his side chatting with few of his family members and Sharpay about New York life. Troy smiled at her as she finished off another one of his father's Piña colada's. After the second one he'd pulled his father to the side and informed him to keep her on a virgin colada diet for the rest of the night. He didn't want her to embarrass herself.

"What's it like being rich?" One of his cousins asked.

"I wouldn't actually know," Gabriella answered before Troy intervened. "I work all the time, and every party I go to is really boring. Until I met Troy, Troy makes it interesting."

"I bet," Sharpay smirked.

Troy shot her a look.

"I'm going to get another drink from your dad," she said getting up from her chair. "These are amazing. I don't even feel them."

Troy nodded and watched as she walked across the yard on her own. Running into his mother on the way and falling into a conversation. When he was sure she was alright on her own he turned his attention back to the game.

"How does it feel to be a kept man?" his uncle asked.

Troy leaned back in his chair his cards in his hands as he glanced at the table. He didn't like it when people referring to him as a kept man. It bothered him a lot more than he expected it too, but at the same time he couldn't deny the truth either.

"It's not like that, I mean the money is obvious. How can it not be?" Troy said with a shrug. "She says things like where shall we dine tonight? and I say things like let's go eat. If anything she makes me feel a little uneducated." Troy smirked.

"Well you always did do stupid things for a pretty face," Sharpay said from across the table as she put down a few cards. "If you ask me she's stiff."

"She's doesn't have a big family. It was always just her and her mom. Her mother passed away a few years ago and it's just been her since," Troy said as he plucked a few cards from his hand.

"Well she's a very nice girl," his uncle said. "Unlike that other hussy you use to date back in high school," he said playfully in Sharpay direction.

"You're just upset that I'm too young for you," Sharpay teased.

Everyone erupted in laughter and Troy felt a pang of home sickness deep down. He always missed home, but there was always something about being back home that made him miss it more. Miss the parties, the backyard card games and late night music. Watching his parents dance in the grass barefoot to old songs.

It was nice.

Gabriella sat back down as the laughter slowed down and she glanced around the table at all the smiling friendly faces. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Troy said quietly as he leaned in and took a sip from her straw.

"Hey, get your own," she laughed.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Troy said with a wink as he sat upright to focus on the game.

Gabriella smiled, there was something about that wink. It made her feel so special. As if maybe, it was just for her, if that were possible. Shaking her head she leaned back in her chair and looked around at all these people who had come together to celebrate.

However weird her life was as a corporate woman it had nothing on this family and the obscurity that made them work. This family that had molded this man. Given him his traits and raised him into this person. There was something appealing in his attentive nature, his need to take care of her, hold her or make her smile. He didn't give a damn about her reputation or her money and he was right about what he said, she wanted him. So why was she still fighting it?

Because if she messed it up, which she eventually would. She'd be forced to leave the country. Her entire life would be over.

None of this knowledge eased the longing in her heart.

Troy's father led his wife out into the middle of the yard and Gabriella watched contently as they swayed to the music. She couldn't even stop herself from smiling as the couple shared an inner private conversation only they could hear.

It was then that her heart suddenly began to ache in ways she didn't know it could. The random child running past them, the sounds of laughter, she felt a stillness in time. A calm washing over her as she looked up at the silly tinkle lights that hung about the yard.

"Shall we?"

Gabriella glanced down to see Troy's hand held out in front of her. She barely noticed he'd moved. Shaking her head in an attempt to clear away some of the fog she turned away from him. "I don't dance. I mean, I really haven't for years," she said straightening out in her seat.

"Get up," he smirked reaching out and giving her hand a tug.

Gabriella let out sigh as she felt the eyes of others watching them. "You really don't take no for answer do you?" she murmured as she got up from her seat.

"Learned from the best," he said quietly as he pulled her away from the table.

They came to a stop and Troy wrapped his hand around her waist pulling her close. He slid his hand up her arm leaving Goosebumps in its wake as he placed her hand on his shoulder gently. Her eyes looked up into his as they settled on her. "Your family is nice."

"Give it a week," he huffed as he began swaying to the music.

Gabriella concentrated on moving her body along with his. This crazy attraction must be affecting her ability to be function. Her knees barely felt like they would keep her up right. "Troy," she said opening her hand to get a better grip on his arm and realizing how big of a mistake it was.

_What do your instincts tell you?_

To jump him.

Frowning Gabriella pulled away little keeping a little distance between them as they moved. "Look about the other night-"

"I'd much rather talk about tonight."

Gabriella's eyes widen as she took in his words. Such an innocuous statement. Such a wealth of sinful promise. Flustered, she turned her face away from him as she opted to press against him instead of face him.

"Troy, we're two different kind of cars on two different sides of the road." Gabriella let out a breath as she launched into her analogy about the difference between three-lane highways and one-way streets, and knowing what kind of driver you were. All of this was going awkwardly well until she sputtered out of gas to an abrupt stop as what started out as a good idea was now a six car pileup.

"Let me see if I've got this right?" his voice thoughtful as he nuzzled her neck a bit. "I haven't even switched lanes yet and already this is a national disaster?"

She looked up at his grin looking back at her.

"You know this traffic report of yours isn't even accurate," he pointed out. "I'm an excellent driver."

If only he didn't make her laugh. Gabriella bit her cheek to stop from smiling.

"You know what you need?" he said taking a moment to spin her out and back into his arms.

"Enlighten me," she said knowing she'd regret it.

"You need a rest stop. Somewhere to take a break from the serious business of staying on the straight and narrow, scanning side mirrors, checking GPS, watching for safety signs."

Gabriella spun around in his arms to face him, unable to hold back her laughter. "You're incorrigible."

Troy let out a laugh and the rumble of it made her inside clench so hard she thought she might actually shiver from the delight.

"You just don't like the idea of someone else taking charge for once."

"That's not true," Gabriella countered.

Troy raised a brow, "If I continue to let you dictate the pace of our relationship you'll end up thinking about it for another month, laying down rules and parameters and basically taking all the fun out of it." Troy slid his thumb down her jaw line, and then brushed it across her mouth. "Do you really want me to let you do that?"

His touch had her in a trance like state and she couldn't break it even if the yard had suddenly gone up in flames. He had no business looking at her that way, as though they had the possibility of a real relationship, a future. It took her dangerously close to needing him and Gabriella had spent her life making sure that she didn't need anyone.

"Time to cut the cake!" Lucile's voice erupted besides them and Gabriella pulled away, freeing herself from him as she turned towards Lucile.

"Time to cut the cake," Gabriella repeated to Troy thankful for the opportunity to distance herself. Without another word she began following his mother inside towards the kitchen.

"Not the kind of dessert I had in mind," Troy murmured under his breath.


	11. Chapter 11

Gabriella sat on the small ledge by the window looking out into the now empty backyard, she reached up and pulled the pin from her hair and let her hand slowly shake out her chestnut locks. She managed to escape the chaos of downstairs for a moment and was currently hiding it what seemed to be a child's room.

"What did you think was going to happen?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she heard the "I told you so" laced in Taylor's voice. "I just don't know what to do."

"You're actually thinking about it?" Taylor voice came over her blue tooth ear piece loud and clear with a sharp laugh, "Well I'll be damned."

"Taylor."

"I'm sorry and I know that you don't want to hear it, but I did warn you."

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she brought her foot up to the ledge and undid the clasp of her sandal. "Sleeping with him would be a horrible idea."

"Doesn't matter if it is or isn't. The point is that you want to, unfortunately there's no getting that back in the box."

"I refuse to just accept that," Gabriella said as she removed her sandal and then other. "I mean, what if this doesn't work out? Then where will I be."

"Gabs, what is it that you want me to say?" Taylor murmured quietly.

"Isn't there anything you can think of that can help me out?"

There was a long pause on the line and Gabriella let out a huff as she brought her feet up on the ledge and crossed her arms over her knees.

"Go for it."

Gabriella bit the inside of her lip. "We're not even married yet."

"So?"

"What if I blow it?"

"What if you don't and for the next two years instead of this being an awkward charade you actually like each other."

Gabriella smile faded as the reminder of reality sunk in.

"Listen," Taylor voice pulled her back out. "Stop thinking. For once, let yourself go. You deserve it after all that you've been through. This is a no stings, no expectations, no waiting by the phone tomorrow type of thing. Trust me, it will be exhilarating."

"I don't do things like this. I don't have sex." She whispered the last part.

"Not really something to be proud of Gabs. I mean there's nothing wrong with virtue. I want Rachel to keep her little legs together until she's going through menopause, but you're a gown woman and it's never been about virtue." Taylor paused, "You just don't put yourself out there. You tend to hide away, never taking any risk, so no one is going to-"

"I don't hide away," Gabriella interrupted, she never really experience discussing her love life, but Taylor assumption that she could easily find a man if she just went out looking made her furious. "I work. I go to functions, I travel. I do errands. I'm around for men to find me if they want."

"Sure and if you can remove the gigantic fuck off that constantly stamped across your face you might be getting somewhere."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and let out a sigh as leaned back against the frame of the window. "Am I really that horrible?"

"They call you Manhattan's very own ice queen Gabs."

Gabriella looked back out the window and up at the sky. "It's hard to be a woman. You must think like a man, act like a lady, look like a girl, and work like horse. Even if you do everything right, if you're not married and with child by the time you're thirty, people will assume there something wrong with you."

"But a successful woman is one who can build a firm foundation with the bricks that others have thrown at her. No one has proven that more than you have."

"Yeah well, I'm tired of being someone else is point," Gabriella paused as she banged her head softly on the frame behind her. "We can talk about this later, I should probably get back to the party."

"Alright," Taylor voice was soft, "When you get back we'll go dress shopping. Maybe even have a girl's night out."

"I'll schedule it in and let you know." Hanging up Gabriella lifted a hand and ran her fingers through her hair as she let out a long sigh. She longed for a simpler time. When she didn't have these urges, these hesitations, fears or wonders. Was this thing between them real? Or was it just a trick or proximity?

"Hey." The sound of his voice caught her attention and her heart rate instantly sped up as she shifted to see him in the doorway leaning on the frame.

"Sorry," she said removing her ear piece, "I had to take a call and this was the only open door."

"Don't you ever get tired of being sorry?" he said quietly stepping into the room and pushing the door shut behind him. The room was instantly darkened, only lighted by the moonlight coming in from the window behind her.

Confusion clouded Gabriella as she stood from her seat on the ledge to face him, "What?"

"You're always so busy taking calls, making decisions, planning the entire course of an empire," he murmured as he watched her with admiration. "You're so scheduled into oblivion that you don't even see it."

Gabriella arched her brows as she tried to keep up with him. "Enlighten me then, what is it that I don't see Mr. Bolton."

In moonlight his features were softened, the blue in his eyes dulled, his shark like grin almost lost. "That you're incredibly unhappy."

It wasn't what he said that affected her so much, it was how he said it. As if it was the biggest secret ever told. A prophecy from an ancient time. The tone of his voice low, husky and hungry. _For her. _

"People are going to wonder where we are," She held a hand to her stomach in an attempt to settle the flutters building there.

"They're going to think what we want them to," Troy walked towards her slowly, "That I can't keep my hands off you."

Gabriella watched him carefully as he crossed the room to her. "I must seem so rude, I should probably go see if your mother needs any help cleaning up." Before she could get past him to the door Troy's hand caught her waist and pulled her to him.

"Not this time."

Gabriella hands rested on his shoulders, "Troy this is hardly the time or place for-"

Her argument was muted as his lips came down over hers. The silence of the room faded away and all she could hear was the drumming sound of her body responding to his like some crazy ritual she was unaware of. The blood was rushing to her ears. Her heart was beating against her rib cage practically numbing the rest of her body.

When he finally stopped, her lips felt bruised. Every breath seemed to short, like she'd never catch it and completely fill her lungs again.

His mouth quirked up into a half-smile. "Relax," he said. "Breathe."

Was it that obvious that she wasn't?

Gabriella tried, but it wasn't easy. Her heart was on a mission to escape from her chest. Every part of her body was tingling, aching for his touch all she could feel was an urgent need and she couldn't make it stop.

"I can't," she whimpered, hating how pathetic she sounded.

"Yes, you can," he said gently. "Focus on your desire. Stop fighting it. And just breathe."

She closed her eyes and tried. Finally, she felt herself begin to un-tense her muscles. She refocused on the throbbing feeling inside her core and instead of trying to run from it she relaxed. When she opened her eyes again she was finally able to take a long, deep breath.

"There you go," Troy said, smiling, brushing his fingers against her cheek. "It's very important, in moments like this, to remember how to breathe."

Gabriella's stance wavered under his touch. It was as if the lightest touch of his fingertips could control her in more ways than she had control over herself. She never experienced anything like it before. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to show you there's nothing to be afraid of." He seemed pleased with himself, judging by the expression on his face.

Gabriella took another deep breath.

"It's deceptively simple, I know," he said. "Just breathe."

Gabriella watched as he reached out a hand and pushed her hair back over her shoulder exposing her bare skin to him. "How far are we going to go?" her voice was different it, she barely recognized it.

"Don't worry about it."

His lips came down on her shoulder a chaste kiss that spread like a wildfire through her veins. She gasped as his hand came up over her breast, feeling her taut nipple through the fabric of her dress. One flick and her head jerked back in erotic charge.

The movement gave him full access to her neck and she was immediately at his disposal within seconds as his mouth came up trailing over the tenderest parts of her flesh. He brushed her hair behind her ear. "Stick with me," he said quietly. "I'll teach you all sorts of things."

His hands came down and he began hitching up her dress. He raised the fabric up and she raised her arm obediently over her head and the mere slide of the fabric against her skin was enough to make her shudder.

"That's very generous of you," Gabriella murmured as she watched him discard her dress behind her onto the bed. She took another deep breath as she stood before him in her bra and panties feeling strangely without shame. His eyes raked over her body and she almost felt it like a physical touch.

"Oh," he breathed with a sly grin. "It'll be my pleasure."

Gabriella watched as he kneeled down slowly in front on her.

"Don't forget to breathe," he said, teasingly.

Gabriella tried to concentrate on doing just that as his hot breath tickled her skin. It brushed across her lower stomach, her hipbones and then lower. Until she felt his fingers slide under the fabric of her panties and pull them down slowly.

His face was inches away from her most intimate area. She was losing focus. _Breathe. Just breathe. _

He leaned closer and pressed a hot, open-mouth kiss on her hip. To her surprised a soft moan escaped from inside her. Her knees felt weak. She knew exactly what she wanted him to do, but at the same time she would rather be swallowed whole than say it aloud.

When his tongue flicked out and traced the crease between her thigh and her mound, mere inches away from where she wanted it most, she shivered. Then she heard herself do the unthinkable.

"Please," she whispered.

Troy blue eyes looked up at her with a smile that made her stomach flutter. "All you had to do was ask Kitten."

At the first lap of his tongue Gabriella pitched forward, grabbing his shoulders for support. His hands held on to her hips, keeping her balanced. "I've got you," he smiled. "Just breathe."

Gabriella nodded as she leaned on him taking long, shuddering breaths like he told her too. When she was able to let go of his shoulders and stand on her own, he continued his ministrations.

This time she was able to stand on her own, although every muscle in her body twitched and shivered at the exquisite feeling he was giving her. She was so focused on not falling over that the sensations slowly crawled through her nerves, filling her with a delicious ache. She let her head fall back, her eyes closing as she let out a long shaky breath.

Her fingers rested against the top of his head, scratching lightly at his scalp. He hummed against her swollen flesh. Her body was shaking as it began feeling different. Deeper, the feeling ebbed and flowed, but even the ebbs made her toes curl into the carpet with pure bliss.

He picked up his pace, slightly, which she hadn't even realized she wanted, but as soon as he did, she moaned taking in the pleasure that was flooding her body. She felt like she was glowing from the inside out.

Then it happened. A big wave from deep inside her, stronger than anything she ever felt before crashed and all at once her body began to spasm. His hands held onto her, holding her to him, as she let out gasp after gasp. She'd never felt this lost, this free. Her eyes tightly shut as she let the feelings wash over her.

When he stood up he wiped his face with one hand, how she was still standing she wasn't sure. Her legs ached but at the same time she never felt this good.

"Now," he said tucking her underwear inside his back pocket. "Wasn't that a good time?"

Gabriella blinked, unsure what to say. Should she thank him? Should she offer to return the favor?

"Put your dress back on. Leave your hair down, meet me downstairs in ten minutes."

Gabriella mouth opened as she watched him walked towards the door. "What about my under-"

"Not a chance," he huffed as he slipped out of the room.


	12. Chapter 12

"I haven't seen Edward since the last barbeque," Lucile said as she lifted her coffee cup up to her lips. "That divorce was just so awful."

"Do you think his daughter is still a lesbian?" his grandmother's voice echoed from the behind the refrigerator door.

"Grandma? Don't tell me you're looking for a girlfriend these days?" Troy said lazily as he strolled into the kitchen and swiped a piece of meat from one of the open trays of left overs.

"Where did you run off too? You missed Sharpay. She just left." Lucile frowned as she placed her cup down in front of her.

"Don't you think that was a little odd?" Troy countered. "Inviting the high school girlfriend to meet the fiancé?"

"Sharpay isn't just a high school girlfriend," his grandmother closed the door to the refrigerator and began making her way back to the table. "Ryan and Sharpay are like family. They always have been. Speaking of which what has he been up to?"

"Ryan and Kelsi are fine. They were bummed that they couldn't come out this weekend, but I think they'll manage a trip soon."

"What about Gabriella, I seen her go upstairs earlier, it looked like she was on the phone. Is everything alright?" Lucile asked.

"Work," Troy shrugged his shoulders, "It's a task to get her away from the desk, let alone off the phone."

"I really hope we didn't scare her that badly," Lucile said lifting her coffee cup. "Everyone's just so excited about the wedding."

"I know."

"She's a little up tight," his grandmother made a face as she picked up a cube of cheese from the open tray at the table. "Not the girl I would have figured you for."

Troy eyes darted towards the doorway when a shy but beautiful woman meekly stood before them. God, when she wasn't in a suit of some kind she looked so normal. Well, he was slowly beginning to realize that she could never look normal, but for once, she looked like someone he could imagine dating instead of some impossibly gorgeous CEO royalty. "Oh I don't know about that," he smirk.

"Hi," Gabriella voice was low as her brown eyes roamed the kitchen.

"Hey you," Troy smiled, "I was wondering where you went, everything okay at work?"

Gabriella's face scrunched up for a moment before she glanced over at his mother and grandmother. "Yeah, everything's fine."

"Gabriella dear come, sit with us. Troy was just telling us about you two," Lucile patted the chair beside her as she moved over a little. "Do you like cheese?"

Gabriella avoided Troy's gaze as she walked past him, although that didn't stop the scorching burn on her skin from being under his watch. And he was watching her.

_Why is he looking at me like that?_ She thought.

"Of course she likes cheese, tell us all about yourself," Grandma said as she picked up another cube.

Gabriella smiled timidly as she looked at the tray of left over cheese cubes. "I'm afraid there isn't much to know about me," she began, "My mother and I lived in Toronto until I was a nine then we moved to the states."

"Troy tells me that you're mother passed," Lucile spoke softly placing a hand over Gabriella's.

"Yes," Gabriella nodded, "She was a strong woman, and she decided to have me on her own. Raise me by herself, she was very big on independence."

"I know it must be hard, planning your wedding without her." Lucile let out a sigh, "I couldn't imagine going through that?"

Gabriella nodded. "I suppose." Her eyes shifted towards Troy who leaning against the counter. His hair was still tousled from when she ranked her fingers through it. A heat flood her face and she looked down at the table.

It would have made it so much easier to get through this if she didn't love to kiss him.

"I'm so excited to welcome you into our family. I know I can't replace your mother, but I hope that you'll let me help you prepare for the big day."

"Big Day," Gabriella repeated.

"There is this great cake shop in town, we'll have to visit tomorrow, it's a little overpriced but they'll take care of everything. Best part is that there isn't a cake cutting fee."

Gabriella raised a brow, "Cake cutting fee?"

"Trust me," Lucile smiled, "They'll nickel and dime you for everything in the wedding industry. You've got to keep your wits about you."

Gabriella frowned, there was so much she didn't know. So much that was expected. At first she thought she'd just hire a wedding planner. Then Taylor wanted to go dress shopping, now Troy's mother wanted to cake tasting. Her palms were beginning to sweat.

"Kitten, would you like to go for a walk?" Troy offered, "It's a nice evening."

Gabriella tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she nodded. "A walk would be refreshing."

Once they were outside Gabriella took a deep breath.

"You're doing fine," Troy chuckled.

Gabriella turned to face him her eyes narrowed. "You're enjoying this?"

Troy began walking down the drive way onto the sidewalk smiling to himself as he heard her beginning to follow. "What's wrong Kitten? Having a hard time controlling the situation?"

"Where are we going?"

"For a walk."

"Can I have my underwear back please?" she whispered.

Troy stopped as he turned to face her, watching with amusement as she hesitated to keep walking. "It's different, isn't it?" he smiled. "Not being in charge."

Gabriella frowned as she bit down on her bottom lip. "I don't appreciate being toyed with."

"I'm not toying with you, but I like this. I like watching you bite your lip. It makes them look plump and delicious."

"Well that's something you not going to find out," she said holding her head up in some kind of empowered stance.

"Like hell I won't."

Troy's hand reached out and cupped the back of her neck with a firm hand and kissed her, ignoring her protests and the fact that they were outside in the middle of his childhood neighborhood. Her lips parted as his tongue found hers in a kiss that left him wanting to sprawl her out in the grass of Mr. Bayle's yard just so that he could finally have a real taste of her.

When he somehow managed to break their kiss, he could barely control his need for her. "So fucking sweet and sexy. Just like I knew they'd be."

"Damn it Troy," Gabriella pulled away from him ranking her hands through her hair as she turned and began walking down the sidewalk. "I don't want to like you. Especially not like this." Her hands came down over her lips which were swollen and tender from his kiss.

Troy caught up with her in two strides and he reached out for her hand, taking it in his own as they walked along the sidewalk together in silence. They walked quietly for a while until they came to a park and Troy gave her hand a gentle tug.

Gabriella followed, not sure she should.

"Kitten," he said softly. "I don't make promises I can't keep," they came to a swing and he motioned for her to sit.

Gabriella examined the swing before deciding to sit, her hands reached out to hold the chains, as Troy began to push her gently.

"I also refuse to lie to you," Troy said as he watched her swing slowly back and forth. "I have feelings for you."

Gabriella eyes jerked upward so they rested on him, "You can't be serious."

"I am." His hands came up to grab the chains slowing down her swing as he hovered over her. "And when we get back home, I'm going to have you properly. I'm going to spread you out on our dining room table and make a meal of you."

"Troy?"

"But until then," he said taking a step back and reaching out a hand for her to take. "I am going to do this properly."

"Do what?" she asked as curiosity lead her hand into his.

"Sweep you off your feet," he whispered as he brought her close and began to rock from side to side gently.

"What are we doing?"

Troy smiled as he reached into his pocket, "Only because your more of the practical type." His fingers tapped the screen a few a times before a soft melody began to play. Ed Sheeran, Thinking Out Loud began to drift around them and Troy smiled as he reached out his hand again.

Gabriella couldn't help the smile that tugged on her lips. "You want to dance here?"

"Why not?" he smiled. "They're playing our song."

Gabriella let out huff as she took his hand. "We don't have a song."

His wicked smiled pulled as began to sing to her,"And, darling, I will be loving you 'til we're 70, and, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23."

Gabriella buried her face into his shoulder in an attempt to hide the giddy warmth that was spreading through her. What had gotten into her, she was acting like some sort of teenager in love. Fawning over him.

_Why did he have to smell so good?_ She wondered. _Why couldn't his kiss be terrible? _

His hand was placed against her lower back holding her close to him as they swayed. Her hair fluttered in the breeze as she shifted so she could look up at him.

"Cause honey your soul could never grow old, it's evergreen, and, baby, your smile's forever in my mind and memory," he sang to her so softly. He eyes held such a mischievous look to them like he enjoyed pushing buttons.

"You're such a goof," she laughed playfully as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Dress down is a good look for you," Troy murmured, "I'm going to have to steal your underwear more often."

"I'm not sure commando counts as dressed down?"

"No it doesn't," Troy chuckled softly, "But I do like the way you look tonight, you're even more beautiful when you let your hair down."

"I'll make a note of it," she responded.

"You and your notes," Troy shook his head, "I bet you make notes about making notes."

"Well how else am I supposed to remember everything?"

Troy let out a laugh and without warning he shifted, lifting her up bridal style and spinning her around. At first she clung to him afraid he'd drop her, then after a moment she relaxed against him. He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, sending an electric thrill through her body. Gabriella closed her eyes and smiled despite herself. It was nice. It was _really _nice.

The next morning Gabriella decided on a beige light long sleeve sweater with a white tang top underneath. She picked a pair light blue jeans from her suitcase and had sloppily clipped her hair up and out of her face so she could work through her morning. She'd had two conference calls, where she spent most of her morning in front of her laptop responding to e-mails.

When she finally came down the stairs where people where already up and moving around. Her stomach grumbled and she placed a hand over it to cover the sound. Gabriella stopped in the dining room's entryway and found Troy, Lucile, his Grandmother and at the head of the table reading a paper Troy's father all having breakfast. No one seemed to notice her. Either that, or she was being ignored.

Lucile was laughing, Troy was smiling and his grandmother was placing a warming hand over his shoulder declaring that it had been "To long since his last visit."

"Morning," Jack said with a smiled as he looked up from the paper. "We weren't sure you'd join us this morning."

Gabriella felt a slight blush come over her cheeks. "I had a conference call and a few e-mails to answer."

"Told you she was a workaholic," Troy laughed getting up from the table and offering his chair. "Here sit down."

Gabriella walked into the room and took a seat.

"I hope your free for the rest of the day, we have a cake tasting and a dressing fitting in town."

"A dress fitting?" Gabriella eyes widen as she looked over at Troy who took a seat in another chair and began pouring her a glass of orange juice.

"Yes," Lucile said, "Sharpay was telling me about this wonderful little shop."

Troy's hand jerked and the conversation came to a halt as he reached for some napkins to begin cleaning up the mess. "Sharpay?"

"Yes she offered to join us."

Gabriella brow arched as she watch Troy scramble at the table.

"She's around a lot," he murmured.

Lucile frowned as she looked back at Gabriella, "Is that a problem?"

Gabriella looked back and forth between Troy and Lucile with an odd curiosity. "I can't imagine why it would be?" she said finally when Troy didn't respond.

"No problem at all," Troy said quietly.

"Good, because she was super excited about the opportunity to get to know Gabriella better," Lucile said leaning back in her chair. "Ryan and Sharpay have been running around this house since before I can remember. It so crazy now that everyone's grown up."

"Of course," Gabriella said quietly taking the orange juice from Troy, "I understand. Your family is very open."

"This is going to be so much fun," Grandma said clapping her hands together.

There was a knock at the door and Troy stood up immediately, "I'll get it."

Troy heart pounded in his chest as he made a beeline for the front door his hand on the handle in moments as he pulled it open and came face to face with Sharpay. Her bright pink tang top called attention to her breast and her tiny jean cut off shorts gave a long view of her legs that disappeared into a pair of beat up converse shoes.

"Morning Troy," she said with a warm smile.

"Whatever you're doing, stop doing it." Troy's face scrunched up as he held the door firmly.

"What am I doing?" Sharpay countered innocently.

"Sharpay knock it off," Troy watched as she made her way inside. "You don't know what's going on and I'd appreciate it if you just kept your opinions to yourself."

"Right," Sharpay said with a smirk, "Well I'll think about it and I'll let you know." With a hair flip she was gone into the dining room and Troy slammed the door shut behind him with a slur.

Just as he was coming into the dining room he was met by Gabriella's glaring stare as she used her hand to press against his chest and push him back into the hall.

"Who is she?" she whispered.

"Yeah about that," Troy said nervously. "She an ex-girlfriend."

Gabriella nodded as she looked down, "Right, I guess she does seem like the type of girl you'd actually be attracted to."

"Don't do that?"

"What?" Gabriella said quietly as she glared at him. "Am I wrong?"

Troy's hand came up and he gently caressed her face. "I was attracted to her, I am attracted to you. I'm no longer with her, but I am with you. So whatever It is that just started turning inside that head of yours. Just stop it."

"Then why is she here?" Gabriella said narrowing her eyes in his direction.

"I'm not sure," Troy said quietly.

Gabriella let out a sigh as she brushed her hair behind her ears and turned back towards the dining room.

"I'll talk to her," Troy said quietly. "Until then be nice and just be careful."

"Why do I have to be careful?" Gabriella murmured as she crossed her arms.

"Just be nice." Troy looked back into the dining room to make sure they weren't being over heard. "She's up to something and we need to be careful."

"What does she want?" Gabriella asked. Budding fear swept through Gabriella. "Do I have to be worried about my physical safety?"

"No," Troy chuckled for a moment. His eyes fell down to her clothing, "You look nice today."

Gabriella looked up at him with a weak smile as she shrugged her shoulders, "I feel over dressed."

"I okay with that," Troy smiled as he slipped his fingers into her front pockets and tugged her closer to him, "I'm not big on sharing my toys anyway."

Gabriella's stomach tightened. His lips pressed against hers chastely and she let out a small sigh. _Was she swooning?_

Pulling away Troy reached for her hands. "Call me if it gets to be too much today and I'll come get you."

"You're not coming?" panic began to rise inside her.

"It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress." Troy shrugged his shoulder, "Plus I offered to help my dad do a few things around the house."

Gabriella swallowed.

"Kitten," he said softly. "You're going to have to deal with them sooner or later."

Gabriella nodded as she took a deep breath and reentered the dining room.

The morning passed quickly as they traveled around the city, stopping at places like the florist and the caterers. Lucile had an opinion on everything, which was helpful because Gabriella didn't really know the difference between lilies to an orchid. Flowers were flowers. She rarely received them and hardly had time to learn about them while she was getting her degrees.

Grandma loved everything at every store, she saw romance in everywhere she looked. Keeping up with her stories and colorful detail was a challenge as they moved from place to place. Gabriella nodded along as she told stories of her and her late husband. Where they met, their first date, their first kiss, their wedding… it was all so real.

At lunchtime, they stopped at a sidewalk cafe and ate at a buffet. Something Gabriella had never done in her life. Food had always been brought to her table, she'd never had to get up and go get it. Let alone grab from big tubs of food. She was grossly out of her element, but she gave it her best shot.

Sharpay remained quiet and observant through their shopping, nodding along with Lucile, laughing with Grandma. There was no denying that she fit in perfectly with Troy's family. She knew them in way that Gabriella never would.

Grandma excused herself to the washroom and Lucile had gotten up for seconds when Sharpay and Gabriella were left alone at the table. Gabriella couldn't help but watch Lucile with an odd sense of longing and admiration as she contemplated her age. She was nice woman, a wonderful mother and from what she saw the night before a happy wife. It didn't seem to bother her that she wasn't at the top of her career; she was happy, dependent on those around her, but happy.

"Gabi," Sharpay said with a smile, drawing her attention back to the awkwardness at the table. "May I call you Gabi?"

"I prefer Gabriella."

"I hope that despite the circumstances… you and I can remain civil to one another." Sharpay continued ignoring Gabriella's comment.

"I don't see why we can't," Gabriella said slowly.

"Well," Sharpay smiled, "that's very big of you."

Gabriella tilted her head to the side as she listened to what Sharpay said. The kind words were there, but so was the netting insolence.

"Most wives aren't that accommodating, but then again you're not most wives." Sharpay leaned back in her chair with a sigh.

"Accommodating?" Gabriella wasn't quite sure what Sharpay was insinuating, and she wanted clarification.

"Well," Sharpay looked away scandalously and then back at Gabriella. "He maybe be putting you by his side now, but didn't he tell you about us and his plans to move back home and marry me once this over?"

Gabriella tried to keep her jaw from falling and failed. "I don't even know what to say to that."

"I can understand your reaction," Sharpay shrugged, "a few months ago I thought I'd be the one in your shoes. But then I find out that he's getting married to some bitch… pardon my French. I didn't know you then. But yesterday when I confronted him, he said that this was just temporary and he was doing it for the payout. So we can start our life together on the right foot. I mean it's a small price to pay for now, but it seems like it will all work out in the end."

Gabriella nodded absently. She didn't understand what was going on. If this were true then why hadn't Troy been honest with her from the beginning? Why the deception?

"I'm sorry, did he not tell you?" Sharpay sat up right in her chair looking appalled. "I thought you knew."

Gabriella shifted displaying a picture of calmness for Sharpay's benefit, even though she was falling apart inside. "No he did tell me that there were plans, he just wasn't so clear about them just yet."

Sharpay smirked, "imagine my surprise I'm going to be a 2nd wife."

Gabriella smiled, "Well in my opinion I believe that this is all very accommodating of you because where I come from we call that a demotion."

Sharpay's face went blank and before she could say anything Lucile returned to the table.

"Oh the salmon is so good," Lucile said as she placed her plate down at the table. "You girls should really go try some, I know you're going to love it."


	13. Chapter 13

Troy was up on the roof when the girls got back from their shopping trip. He watched as his father helped unload the car. He had no idea where they'd gone or what they had did, he texted her once to see how things were going and she never responded. Reaching for his shirt from his back pocket he quickly pulled it over his head and made his way to the ladder.

He might appear to be a little anxious, but he didn't care. He needed to make sure everything was still alright, and he had a hunch that they weren't. The moment his feet hit the floor he turned and found Sharpay waiting for him.

"Hey friend,"

"Hey," he said attempting to walk past her and towards the house where Gabriella disappeared.

"So I've thought about it," Sharpay said stepping in his way.

"What?" he said keeping his eyes on the house, "Did you say something to her?"

Sharpay let out a small sigh as she crossed her arms. "How much is she paying you to be her little lap dog?"

Troy momentarily switched gears and crossed his arms as he stared at her with distain. "How much do you want?"

"How much are you offering?" Sharpay smiled.

Troy let out a sigh, "twenty-five thousand dollars and you drop it."

"Deal, fifty thousand dollars and I forget all about your arrangement," she held out her hand for him to shake.

"Deal, now leave."

Sharpay sighed, "I don't like what this money is doing to you Troy, it's making you grumpy." Placing her sunglasses back on her face she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek before turning around and heading towards her jeep.

"It's actually a real eye opener," Troy murmured as he uncrossed his arms and began heading back into the house.

Gabriella took a deep breath as she stepped away from the bedroom window and placed a hand over her stomach to settle the bubbling sickness there. _So it was true._ She just seen it. Well maybe not it per say, but she did just see something.

Gabriella didn't know what to say, at the moment her heart was pounding under her chest like a wild drum of some sort. Why did she put herself in this position? She didn't want to acknowledge the magnetism building between them, but she had no choice. It was there dominating her mind, body and soul. And she'd been a fool. 

Just as she was about head downstairs the bedroom door opened and Troy walked inside, shutting it behind him and sealing off her only exit.

"Hey," he seemed out of breath. He was also covered in dirt of some kind.

"Hey." Slowly Gabriella moved her eyes up the length of the solid, strong, statue like figure standing mere inches away from her. She paused momentarily to admire, against her will, the smooth now sun kissed complexion at the base of Troy's neck. She couldn't help herself. It contrasted nicely with what once was his stark white color shirt that was now covered in some kind of grime.

Unconsciously, she licked her lips as she noticed his arms. They seemed to be bulging more than usual, a streak of dirt covered his forearm and suddenly certain places began tingling and pulsing with a rush of feelings she couldn't explain.

_Just Breathe. _

"How was shopping?"

Gabriella jerked as she forced herself to turn around, her eyes rested on a shelf filled with basketball trophies. "Hm… your Sharpay is something else."

"My Sharpay? She's not my Sharpay."

"She thinks she is." Jealousy snuck up against Gabriella and she tried to divert the unwanted sensation. Glancing over her shoulder she tried her best to look unaffected.

"Is that so?" He smiled, like he saw right through her.

Gabriella crossed her arms, "She told me that I may be marrying you now, but that you and her have plans for when this is all over."

"She said those exact words?"

Gabriella couldn't tell if he was astonished or pleased to know that he'd have a warm body waiting anytime he wanted.

"That is correct."

"Huh. Wow." He tempered his shock with amusement. "I knew she was going to try to run you off. I just didn't peg her for the boil your bunny crazy scenario."

Gabriella raised a brow, was he really not going to admit to it. "Then I guess the jokes on her." A sensation of tired sadness passed over her. "Considering our arrangement… it's really none of my business what your plans are when all this is over."

A hint of regret clouded his eyes for just a second, and then it was gone. "But that's our secret," he added with a wink. He began walking towards her, his muscles under his shirt shifting.

"Yes it is." She forced herself to look up at his eyes.Big mistake._ Abort! _Her first instinct had been right._ Just breathe. _She had to avoid eye contract with him at all cost just to make it through this conversation.

"Kitten?"

"Please stop calling me that." She strove to keep her voice light and even, but she could hear the tension in it as tight as a wire. Instinctively she closed her eyes in hopes that she would have an easier time focusing without the overwhelming distraction of the much too-tempting man. Also, maybe without the enticing visual stimulation, she'd actually take in a steady breath. What were they talking about again?

Gabriella felt a small jolt of panic shoot through her as he came closer. No matter how strong and self-assured she felt going into it, eye contract with Troy would always be a supremely bad idea for a couple of reasons.

First, she didn't want him to have any inkling of the powerful effect he was having on her body, or for that matter on her mind and soul. It was going to be hard enough to put their past behavior in the water-under-the-bridge category without adding new indiscretions to the list.

Second, well, embarrassment was a powerful motivator. And she was more than a little embarrassed about the way she had behaved last night in this very room. When she let him do things to her she never even imagined.

In that instant her eyes shot open to put a stop to the instant slide show from hell that began flooding her mind. And there he was.

Reaching up, Troy brushed a stray hair that had fallen across Gabriella face. After he tucked it behind her ear, he traced his thumb down the back of Gabriella's neck slowly, sensuously, and then continued across her shoulder and down her arm. The work-roughened pads of his fingers grazed against her skin, causing an unwanted awareness of just how amazing his touch was.

When he reached her waist, her slipped his large hand around her easily, spreading his fingers deliberately and firmly, grasping her back with a familiarity that felt as intensely dangerous as it did erotically comforting.

His thumb began to gently massage the small of her back, sending sharp zings of electricity ping-ponging off of her nerve endings. She wanted to stop those little zings of pleasure in their tracks. She wanted to ignore, suppress, deny… anything at this point.

Her knees began to buckle beneath her as her head spun. She needed to push away and get some distance so she could think straight. That's what she needed to do. _Any time now, _a little voice in the back of her head whispered. _Any time you want to get a jump on creating that distance would be perfect._

Her brain might be telling her to get out of this situation, to think about the consequences, but her body was perfectly content to ride this little scene out and see where it went.

Why did it seem that she was utterly incapable of listening to her brain in any situation where Troy Bolton was involved?

Troy blue eyes seem patient as he watched her play out her inner struggles. "Breathe."

Gabriella eyes fluttered upward as she narrowed her expression. "Stop telling me what to do."

"Damn it woman," Troy murmured as he reached up and pulled the clip from her hair. Tossing it off to the side he reached for her face with both his hands covering her mouth in a bruising kiss as his tongue found hers. His cock strained against his jeans, growing up past the waist band, as her hips shifted against his length. One kiss led to another, his lips trailing down her neck as he nipped at her delicate skin, her back arching up as if in offering.

"Are you really going to be with her?" The question rolled out of her before she could put a stop to it. Jealously had gotten the best of her and while she knew there was no need for it, there was an urge and almost primal need to mark her territory.

His hands came over her shoulders pushing off her sweater and letting it fall to the floor. "You're the only one I want." His words were spoken against her skin, between kisses. "The only body I want to sink myself into."

Gabriella gave a little nod. "Then do it."

Troy stilled and pulled her away from him, he was instantly taken by just how small she seemed in his arm. She held his gaze, her chest rising and falling, a delicious tension building between them as he took her in. Her tongue darted out and licked her bottom lip before she bit it for a moment and damn if he felt his self-control slip.

"Troy… please," she whispered.

"At this point, I don't think I could deny you anything," he murmured. "But you have to be sure about this Kitten? There's no going back after-"

"I'm horny," Gabriella interrupted. "It's annoying, but there is a solution. So what's it to be? Are you going to help me, or do I need to take care of things myself?"

Hard as he was, he had to force himself to stay put and not ravage her right there on floor of his childhood bedroom. "Why Miss Montez, I never-"

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she moved to walk around him and Troy quickly scooped her up into his arms. He tossed her over his shoulder, loving how she squirmed and laughed. He began making his way to the door.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Shower," he said poking his head out in the hall to check if the coast was clear.

"What if someone sees us?"

"Then I guess you'll just have to be quiet so no one does," he said giving her bottom a little smack.

"Hey," Gabriella giggled in a fit of nervous energy.

Troy crossed the hall and into the bathroom, locking the door behind them before putting her down. Quickly he got the hot water in the shower running, before turning back to more important matters like, ravaging Gabriella. He watched as she shimmed out of her jeans, her body perfectly proportioned with curves every woman should have.

"God how did I get so lucky," he murmured.

Gabriella took a deep breath as she stood in front of him in her spaghetti strap top and panties. Reaching down she lifted the top over her head and tossed it to the side. Her bra and panties followed quickly after.

Troy had tossed his shirt on top of the pile as he watched her step into the tub and slip under the water, like a sea nymph, there to steal his heart. Kicking off his pants he joined her, the water steaming hot against his skin.

As soon as he was in there under the warm sprays he felt her come closer to him and she kissed him. And though he felt the need and passion in her kiss he also sensed a hesitation and that uncertainty left him wondering. "Hey, you don't have to do anything you don't want to," he whispered.

"Hush," she kissed him again reaching down and wrapping her and around his swollen cock. "I don't want to over think what we're doing here, or I'm going to freak myself out and bolt. However I am new at this so don't have any expectations."

"Trust me, you're fine." He sucked in a needy breath as she caressed him. His erection thrust into her hand, hard and engorged, pulsing with need and desire.

"I'm not sure about how condoms work with water, but I'm clean and I am on the Pill."

"I'm completely safe here too, you can trust me." He always used condoms. Always. But with Gabriella, he wanted skin to skin, wanted that trust between them.

"I do." And she did.

Troy let out a low groan as he moved forward and lifted her from the floor. Her legs slipping across his back side as she began to straddle him. His cock trapped between them as he press her against the showers tile. When she shifted her hips against him he could think of nothing but taking her. And yet, "Not so fast."

She groaned in protest but stopped moving, his cock throbbing against her. Raking his teeth against the slope of her neck he slipped his hands down her sides and grabbed her hips tight in his grasp, his fingers digging into her soft flesh. "Tell me, Kitten… tell me that you want me to fuck you."

A small smile pulled at her lips as her breathing became a little heavy, her eyes locked on his. "I want you to fuck me."

Lifting her, he thrusted up from underneath and then pulled her down onto his cock slowly. And he watched as her eyes widen and her lips parted. She was mind-blowingly tight, and her body was forced to stretch around his girth.

Her breathing was quick and shallow, their pace quickening as she curled her hips a little so her clit rubbed up against him. She'd never felt like this in her life, like she couldn't quite control the motion of her body. Her hips kept rocking restlessly, and she was stroking and clutching at Troy's back, head, and chest. She started making silly little sounds, although she tried to stifle them she they made her self-conscious.

He didn't go in all at once, the way she'd been expecting. He slid in and out, just at her entrance, in a series of fast little thrust. He kept up the same kind of motion, in and out, slightly re-angling, as he went increasingly deep.

It felt good until he was almost all the way in. Then the pressure became genuinely uncomfortable.

"You okay?" He asked, when she arched up automatically.

"Just keep going," Gabriella bit her lip as she shifted a bit.

"Are you really okay?" he was holding himself still now. "Does it hurt?"

"Not really. Just pressure. It's going to be fine."

The discomfort had taken the edge off her arousal, though so she was a little disappointed as she breathed slowly to relax her body. She supposed it was too much to expect to be swept away by passion on her very first time. She wasn't a silly girl with unrealistic fantasies about this. Things didn't have to be perfect to still be good.

He pulled out, relieving the pressure. Before she could object to his retreat, he entered her again, using the same in and out penetration. It was better this time, didn't hurt nearly as much.

"Better?" he asked, his arms were shaking slightly and she could feel heat radiating off him.

"Yeah, it's better." not wanting him to get distracted by worrying about her, she pulled him into a kiss.

He kissed her back immediately, his tongue thrusting rhythmically into her mouth. She responded with her own tongue and then with her body. Her hips rocked up into his, shifting his erection inside her in a way that felt so deep and so strange.

He groaned thickly as he broke the kiss. Then he started to move into her, pumping his hips until, with a few starts and stops, they'd established a rhythm. He was really into it now. He started to make grunt noises, and his body shook with tension beneath her hands. She held on to him and tried to match his thrust, although she wasn't sure she was doing a really good job.

She wanted him to enjoy it. It wasn't uncomfortable now, and other sensations were starting to build. Although not very fast and not with the intensity they'd had before he had entered her.

"Gabriella," he rasped. His motion accelerating even more. "Gabriella."

She made a little whimper of pleasure, both from their motion and from the way he was saying her name.

A sharp jolt of unexpected pleasure ran through her causing her to moan and at the sound of it he released a long moan as his hips jerked against hers. Then he moaned again differently as his body suddenly froze and then released.

She loved how it felt, loved how he'd taken such pleasure in her, loved that she could give it to him. She felt closer to him than she ever had before when his body slowly relaxed and he lowered her from their position.

She stood there underneath the warm sprays against the tile as he placed both arms on either side of her. Slowly he lean forward and covered her lips with his own, softly now, without the urgency of before. Then she was surprised when he reached down to stroke her hip and thigh. His hand traveled further.

"What are you doing?" she asked, shifting under his touch. "I thought it was over."

"It was over for me, but I think I enjoyed it more than you did."

She sucked in a sharp breathe when his head moved down to her breast. "Troy, you don't have to-"

"It not about having to," he said in a low voice as he slid one hand between her thighs to explore. She was wet from her earlier arousal and his release and her flesh was still sensitized and pulsing. "It's about me wanting to make you come."

Her body was reacting, was already trying to work into an instinctive rhythm. She stretched her back and inhaled sharply as his fingers fondled her intimately.

She felt a swell of deep affection at how serious he was about pleasing her. She grabbed at his shoulders and held on. He evidently knew exactly what he was doing. Two fingers were pumping in and out of her tight channel, while his thumb massaged her with deep precision. He matched that pattern with his mouth on her breast and so she felt dual tugs, dual sensations building inside.

"Troy," she groaned, her voice barely recognizable. "Don't stop."

Her hips were starting to thrust into his motion, deepening then sensation accelerating the rhythm, but she wanted to feel close to him in a different way.

"Troy," she gasped, pumping her hips faster, pulling him up. "Kiss me."

She whimpered when he came up and captured her lips with his mouth. Then it was his kiss, his touch, his rhythm, all working together in unison. He began to curl his fingers inside of her and her whole body shuddered in response. She felt the sensation building, mounting, swelling toward that one moment of relapse.

She was panting under his mouth. Right at that moment before she climaxed, he pulled away from the kiss.

She knew he was watching her. Watching as her hips jerked erratically, as her face contorted in pleasure, as her upper body came flying out in a momentum she couldn't control. She cried out hoarsely and clawed at the skin on his bare shoulders. Her muscles clamped down violently around his fingers but he sustained his steady motion until the contractions came to a complete stop.

"Oh my god."

Her body slumped against the shower tile and he smiled as he watched her, "I answer to Troy too," he teased.

"Oh my god," she rolled her eyes and pushed him with as much strength as she could muster which wasn't enough to send him even an inch in the other direction.

"Come on," he smiled warmly as he picked up a shampoo bottle, "Let's get you cleaned up."

Gabriella was hesitant at first, not sure what he meant until he squirted the shampoo in his hands and motioned for her to come closer. Turning around she leaned back a little and closed her eyes as he began to shampoo her hair, his fingers working their magic to erase the day away.

_A girl could get use to this. _


	14. Chapter 14

Between shoving all of his belongings into his office down stairs, getting rid of the last of the boxes, and returning vendor's phone calls the next two days back home seemed like a whole another world filled with avoiding one another. Finally she'd heard from Chad about the dress that she and Taylor had seen in the window the day she got back.

Of course Chad was almost breathlessly excited, and insisted that she come down to the shop at once for a fitting. So here she was two hours to spare before she had to meet Troy at the INS interview. She couldn't help but feel intensely awkward as she walked through the shop, knowing that somewhere in the back hung her wedding dress.

Chad on the other hand, looked like he might go nuclear from the happiness rolling off of him. "Come on, come on!" he said putting his arm around her and herding her towards the back.

"You know it's just a dress right?"

"I'll pretend you didn't say that," Chad said with a raised brow as he led her past the curtain. "I've got it hiding back here because I didn't want anyone asking about it, or god forbid Troy stop by."

"I'm not superstitious," she said coming to a stop.

"Gabs," Chad huffed, "Everyone's superstitious when it comes to weddings. You might as well get on board."

"I'm here, I'm here. Did I miss it?" The sound of Taylor's heels clicking along the tile floor came in from behind.

"Almost," Chad smiled, "I was about to reveal it." Turning around he pulled a dress from its place on the far wall. It was sleek and elegant, without all the taffeta and usual trappings of a typical wedding dress.

Yet, at the same time, she felt like she would be recognizable as a bride when she put it on. It was a lovely cream color, with deep red accents including a sash around the waist.

"Now I made a few alterations, given that this is a summer wedding I took the dress up a little," Chad said, "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful," Gabriella reached out to touch the material, "I just… it's slowly beginning to feel real and I guess I'm just a little thrown?"

"Come on," Taylor nudged, "I can't wait to see it on you."

Gabriella disappeared into a fitting room with Taylor and was grateful to have her there helping her into this dress. Chad had handed her a pair of complementing shoes through the curtain just as Taylor finished zipping her up.

"Oh my god," Taylor gasped as she took in the dress, "You have to look at this in the mirror."

Before she could protest Gabriella was being led out of the fitting room and staged in front of the 180 mirror. And everything seemed to stop as she stared at her reflection. This was what she would be married in.

Taylor and Chad watched her with more emotion than she could manage to muster at this point. Apparently weddings made everyone emotional.

"It's nice," Gabriella attempted, "I honestly don't know what I would do without you guys."

"I don't think it needs a single alteration," Chad murmured as began walking around her in circles and touching and tugging at various parts of the dress. "Even I didn't think it would be this perfect."

"And you're so humble, too." Gabriella smirked as she smoothed the dress over her hip one more time, as if trying to somehow cement the idea that this was really happening.

"Shut up. You love it." Chad looked up at Gabriella with a smile, "Don't move, I'm going to find some accessories."

"No problem," Gabriella murmured as she stared at her reflection some more.

"So what's it been like at the house?" Taylor said walking over and fingering the hem on her sash. "Anything else happen?"

"No," Gabriella looked down, of course she told Taylor everything that happened at Troy's parent's house, minus the Sharpay fiasco, and she felt like an idiot when thought about it. Honestly, how could she be so stupid to fall for some petty high school drama. On the other hand, Troy never really did give her any actual answers.

They just agreed that what happened after the terms of their arrangement was neither of the other's businesses, which was not false.

"I can't believe you had sex in his parents shower."

Gabriella eyes widen as she looked over at Taylor, "Gee Tay, a little louder I don't think the people across the street heard you."

Taylor let out a laugh, "oh heaven forbid people find out your making the nasty with your finance."

A blush came over her cheeks. "It was just a onetime thing; I wanted to get it over with. Now it's out of my system."

Taylor narrowed her eyes, "Really?"

Chad came back with a lovely set of sliver earrings and necklace that matched the red accents. "I'm making a decision that this is what you'll be wearing with this dress. I've had these lying around for a while, never seemed to go with anything, until now."

"Oh wow," Taylor admired the set, "Are those real rubies?"

"Would Miss Montez wear otherwise?" Chad teased.

"Mrs. Bolton in a few weeks," Taylor corrected with a smile.

Gabriella let out a long sigh as she looked back at her reflection. _Mrs. Bolton._ It certainly didn't sound horrible. _Mr. and Mrs. Bolton._ Not terrible.

Later that afternoon Troy met up with Gabriella at the address given to them for the INS interview. He be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. The whole drive he felt like every organ in his body was trying to crawl through his chest. When he spotted Gabriella standing outside looking at her watch he felt a little of the tension inside him ease away.

She was a sight for sore eyes, he been to the office today to clean off his desk and then had to participate in an impromptu farewell party. That had been a teeth gritting experience, and he was happy it was finally over.

"We're early," he said coming up to her and placing a small kiss on her check.

"You said we'd meet at here at three it's twenty-five after."

It was reassuring to know he wasn't the only one nervous. "Well they threw a party at the office and I couldn't just up and leave in the middle of it."

"A party for what?" Gabriella said switching gears and turning her attention to him.

"Last day remember," Troy smiled as he placed a hand on the small of her back, "Come on let's go get this over with."

The waiting room was small, and crowded with people. Most of them had the same thousand-yard stare Troy was more than sure he was sporting. Not a single person wanted to be there. Looking over at Gabriella she looked calm, scrolling through her phone, her usual business glare.

"Let me get this straight, you freak about meeting my parents, but this … this doesn't faze you?"

"Its procedure," she paused looking up at him questioningly. "This is business."

Troy glanced around the room at everyone else, who was quietly in their own world. "What are you doing away?"

"Reading through your file," Gabriella murmured quietly.

Troy straighten, "You have a file about me on your phone?" he whispered.

"I'm just making sure I know everything there is to know about you," she responded off handily as she scrolled through her phone.

"We're so screwed," he muttered under his breath as he went back to watching the tile on the floor.

"Miss Montez?"

Troy head jerked up, he'd almost forgotten they'd be talking to them separately. Of course they would. Why would any of this be easy? They were only committing a federal crime. He watched her leave the waiting room and disappeared down a hallway.

This was going to be the longest wait of his life.

After a while, he actually started to seriously consider that she might never come back. Maybe they'd already arrested her, and they'd be coming for him next. Of course their story wouldn't hold up. Sharpay had seen right through it. How stupid could he have been to go along with this scam?

Every time the woman came to the door and looked around the room, his head perked up, hoping against hope that his name would be called. That someone would put him out of his misery.

But it never was.

Until finally, he heard it.

"Mr. Bolton, will you come with me please?"

Troy stood up from his chair and followed her into a tiny office with barely enough room for the two chairs and desk. He took a seat.

"Someone will be with you in just a moment." She gone before he could say thank you.

Sitting there alone in the little room, he was aware of his own breathing. He had to act normal. He had to remember to smile. He'd give anything to have Gabriella robot like exterior right now.

The doorknob rattled.

A middle-aged man walked in, glasses perched on his nose. He was dressed like Mr. Rogers.

"Mr. Bolton," he began. "Thank you for coming in."

"Not a problem." As if he had a choice. He there quietly, irrationally worried that the interviewer could hear his heartbeat.

"Can you tell me about the first time you met?"

Troy relaxed a little, "I was fulfilling a work order at for additional RAM, I had the wrong station and accidently found myself in her office."

"And what happened then?"

Troy shrugged, "She claimed she had a special project she wanted me to work on, so I came back the next day. We talk about some random stuff, you know where we both grew up what our families were like… our odd fascination for Nickolas Sparks movies and then she invited me to lunch."

"And this special project?"

"Didn't exist," Troy smiled, "She made it all up, just to get a chance to talk to me. She's not a very open person, she's very private and distant about things."

"Did she make you aware of her interest during the first meeting?"

Troy let out a huff, "No…not in so many words. Then again how are you supposed to know when a woman's interested in you? Dating is kind of the equivalent to stumbling around in the dark until you stumble into something, you don't know if something there."

The interviewer looked at him and then clicked his pen.

"Look she was my boss, she was a co-worker, and she was a woman. I mean from the way she looked at me … maybe she thought something… but I didn't make a move until I was sure."

"What move was that?"

Troy inwardly sighed as he stared at the man in front of him. They hadn't gone over this. He swallowed. "First time I kissed her was outside of Daniel's. Till then we'd just been talking, enjoying each other company, but that was the first time we went somewhere outside of work. The first time I'd ever seen her with her hair down. She did this thing, she leaned against me and that was when I felt it." Troy paused for a moment. "I knew right then and there I'd never be able to live with myself if I didn't kiss her."

The man looked down at his papers. "Where were you living, at this time?"

Troy recited his old address.

"Where you concerned about your co-workers finding out about your relationship?"

Troy nodded, "We were for a while. That's why we kept it quiet. But eventually we decided it was best to be open about things, and I quit my job as soon as it was feasible to avoid any conflicts of interest."

"How soon into the relationship did she inform you about her immigration difficulties?"

Troy let out a breath, "the first night I slept over she talked about it. Apparently she was all up in arms about filing paper work correctly. The woman is a workaholic her entire kitchen was almost in pristine condition when I moved in. I have to drag down from the office sometimes to remind her to eat."

"What made you decide on a short engagement?" 

"Well personally, my mother would have preferred it if we got married yesterday. The short engagement is really just because neither one of us wants to drag this on. Gabriella's not the most romantic type and if I can keep my grandmother from speaking about her childbearing hips just a little longer," Troy let out a sigh. "I might stand a chance in not scaring away this beautiful woman who's agreed to marry me."

The interviewer smiled a little bit. Finally showing his human side.

More questions came after that. About the wedding plans, the finances, what TV shows that watched together on a weekly basis. The interviewer asked to see a copy of his house keys and Troy provided them, wondering if the man was mentally matching them from memory.

He answered all the questions about their home life, down to the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, when the garbage pickup came and the color of the walls.

Finally the torment was over and Troy was released into the waiting room where Gabriella sat on her phone quietly talking to someone about software branding. When he strolled over he motioned for her attention and she looked up at him with relief.

Troy smiled at her and reached out his hand, "Come on Kitten."

Gabriella sat in the passenger side of his car as he drove them back towards the apartment. She was quite use to being driven around all the time, but it was odd to sit up in front. Watching him drive. She smiled and looked away from him as she watched the scenery pass by. She wanted to say something about their trip. About the fact that they hadn't really touched each other since, about the fact that she wanted him to touch her.

"Are you hungry?" Troy asked as he turned down their street.

Gabriella shook her head as she glanced down at the radio, "No. I'm probably going to head up to my office. I have some things to look over."

"When was the last time you ate something?"

Gabriella thought about it for a moment as she exhaled. "Did they ask you about our first meeting; because I told them that story you told Kelsi and Ryan."

Troy glance over at her for a moment before returning his eyes to the road, "That's what I told them too."

"And that kiss outside Daniel's," Gabriella let out sigh, "I told them that was our first kiss."

"It was our first kiss."

Gabriella let out a sigh as she played with the band of her watch. "Good because I forgot to ask you about that."

Troy reached his hand over to her side and took her hand in his. "I'm sure everything will match up and we'll be just fine."

"Right," Gabriella looked down at their hands. "Troy?"

"Mmmm?"

"Maybe we shouldn't-"

They came to a red light and when car stopped Troy glanced over at her. "Shouldn't?"

"A lot of this is getting out of hand," she said pulling away from his touch. "This is an arrangement after all. A terms and conditions kind of thing with an expiration date."

"An expiration date?" Troy frowned, "When did I become a gallon of milk?"

"Troy," Gabriella let out a sigh as she leaned back in her seat, "You've done so much for me already by agreeing to go along with all this, the interview and … everything."

"By 'everything' I am assuming you mean the mind blowing orgasm," she heard him say as he turned to face the road again.

Disbelief in her current circumstances ran through her as she sat there willing the car to move again. The sooner they got home, the sooner she could get as far from him as possible by locking herself in her office. They were only a block away.

"We're going to have to talk about that at some point."

"It was a onetime thing, just to get it out of our system."

Beginning to drive again, Troy let out a huff, "We're going to feel what we feel kitten, whether we act on it or not."

She licked her lips. "All the same, I just-"

"All the same?" he pulled into their parking structure, "What kind of counter-argument is that?" he laughed.

She remained quiet until the car was parked. "I just don't think this is a good idea."

"Stop acting like a character in some Victorian loss-of-virtue novel."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and got out of the car. "You're annoying."

"I'm annoying?" Troy said getting out of the car from his side and following her towards the elevators. "Someone could get whiplash from listening to you figure things out."

They stopped by the elevators as they waited for a moment, her back to him as she held on to her briefcase. "I tried on my wedding dress today."

"Oh," Troy said quietly. Not knowing what else to say he nodded. "I bet you beautiful in white," he added.

"It's an off white, with a touch of red to it," she said watching the elevator doors open. "Taylor and I saw it in the window of this shop. Chad made a few adjustments, but it exists now, in its creamy, red velvet glory."

"Put that way you make it sound like a cupcake."

They both quietly stood in the elevator watching the other.

"Has anyone ever told you you'd make a wicked dessert?"

_I'm going to spread you out on our dining room table and make a meal of you._ The words echoed inside her like a haunting and Gabriella's eyes jerked upward towards him. "What?"

The doors opened. They stared at each other. Long seconds passed and neither moved.

"After you?" he motioned.

Gabriella took a step and so did he, causing her to stop. She didn't think, didn't question. She didn't do anything that Gabriella Montez normally did. It didn't seem important. She couldn't stop. Not even when his mouth settled on hers with a possessiveness Troy wasn't entitled to, and his hands slipped underneath the hem of her skirt and shoved it upward. With a small nudge of encouragement she leaped up into his arms and wrapped her legs around him. The feel of his hands on her bare thighs as he held her in place rushed through her with urges she couldn't even begin to explain.

"This time we're going to do this right," Troy murmured against her lips as he made his towards her apartment door. Once he got the door open and they were inside he kicked the door shut behind them with his foot as he made a beeline for the kitchen.

Gabriella remained quiet as Troy sat her down on the kitchen counter. He seized her mouth, kissing her hard and long before pulling away, his breath rasp.

"Don't move," he said with a stern voice that left her afraid to be disobedient and at the same filled with mischief thoughts. She never let anyone tell her what to do in her life and yet she found herself short of breath from excitement as she watched him rummaged through her refrigerator and cabinets' looking for God knows what.

Moments later he turned away from the refrigerator and closed the door with hands full of items. His eyes held a wicked, sinful shade of blue that made her inhale sharply.

"What are you doing?"

"See for yourself," he said, placing all the items on the counter next to her.

Gabriella hesitated for a moment looking down at the jar. "Cherries?"

A slow smile touched his lips at the same time she saw a hint of heat fill his blue eyes. "My favorite fruit."

She didn't know what to say, so she reached for the next item which was a bottle of whipped cream.

"For the topping."

Her eyes darted towards him as she put the can down and selected another item. "Nuts?"

"They go well with the cherries."

The last item on the table was a bottle of chocolate syrup her eyes lingered on it for a moment before looking back up at Troy.

"That's a must." The sound of his voice was suddenly deep and he placed his hands on her knees separating them to allow himself closer access.

Instantly her heart rate skipped at the thought of his intention. He was serious.

His hands fingered the buttons on her top pausing for a moment as he looked up into her eyes, "Last chance to chicken out."

She'd barely resolved herself into this reality when he leaned down to kiss her softly. His tongue delicately glided over the line between her lips. When she parted them for him, he licked lightly across the undersides.

It felt increasingly good. Made her breath quicken and her blood pound. She reached up to tangle her fingers in his soft brown hair. She was just getting the hang of their make out session when he moved away, trailing little kisses over her face and down her neck.

She gave a sharp gasp when he found a sensitive spot at the base of her throat.

"How's that Kitten?" he murmured against her skin.

Gabriella didn't say anything at first, a little unsure about her nerve to speak let alone abilities. Troy's tongue fluttered against that same spot again and she gasp. "I like it."

"Good girl," he murmured as looked down at her shirt his eyes following all the buttons down until they disappeared beneath her skirt. "It's only because you have too many of these damn things that I'm not going to feel bad about this," he murmured.

Her confusion was short lived when his hands grabbed either side her shirt and ripped them open exposing her bare skin and pink lace bra.

"Wow."

She wasn't sure who said it, by the look on his face he was just as turned on by the action as she was. Anticipation was flowing through her veins and she could feel her heart thudding in her chest. She'd never considered herself a sexual being before. In fact, she never contemplated herself in a sexual manor at all. She had a pretty good idea just what he planned to do and the thought was inciting every cell in her body to simmer with desire.

"Oh Kitten," He murmured removing her shoes. "You're gonna like this."

"Troy," she whispered as he removed her skirt leaving her in her torn top and undergarments. "Please." She didn't care if sounded way too eager. There was no way to hide her response. She wanted him bad. So bad she might scream. She'd never realized she was capable of feeling this way.

He removed her top completely tossing it somewhere behind them. He reached up for her hair removing the fancy little stick she had holding it up and biting his lip as he watch it tumble down freely.

"You have no idea," he whispered softly before removing the rest of her clothes and then gently pushed her back on the table so she was laying on her elbows looking up at him. While she lay there, she watched as Troy removed his shirt and tossed it aside.

"Now for something sweet," he said, and she nearly jumped when she felt a warm, thick substance being smeared over her chest with his fingers and hands in a sensual and erotic pattern. When he moved to her stomach the muscles tightened as he continued rubbing the substance all over her belly, as if he was painting a design on her.

"What is it?"

"My name."

His voice was husky and she felt her inside prickle with a shiver as his blue eyes stared back at her with a sly grin. All she could do was lie there and stare up at him speechlessly, trying to make sense of what he said. He was placing his name on her stomach as if he was branding her as his. She forced the thought from her mind.

"How does it feel?" he asked as his hand continued spreading chocolate syrup all over her.

"The chocolate feels sticky, but your hands feel good," she said honestly. He had moved his hands down past her stomach to her thighs. He didn't say anything for a while, just continued what he was doing.

When he was satisfied that had smeared enough chocolate syrup over Gabriella's body, he grabbed the can of whipped cream and squirted some around her nipples, outlined her belly button, completely covered her feminine mound and made squiggly lines on her thighs.

"Now for the nuts and cherries," he said, still holding her gaze.

He then proceeded to sprinkle her with nuts and place cherries on top of the whipped cream on her breast, navel and womanly mound.

"You look beautiful," he said taking a step back and looking down at her to see just what he'd done.

"I'll take your word for it," she said with a slight smile. She was losing her nerve.

"Now," he began lowering himself to her body, "to get it off you."

She knew just how he had intended to do that, but nothing prepared her for the feel of his tongue when he began slowly licking her all over. Every so often he would lean up and kiss her, giving her a taste of the concoction that was smeared all around his mouth, mingling his tongue with hers. At one point he carried a cherry with his teeth, placed it in her mouth and together they shared the taste.

"Troy…"

Troy loved the sound of his name on her lips and as he lowered his mouth back down to her chest, he could feel the softness of her breasts beneath his mouth. And each nipple tasted like a delicious pebble wrapped around his tongue. Every time he took one into his mouth she shivered, and he savored the sensation of sucking on them.

He kissed his way down her stomach and when he came to the area between her legs he looked at her, met her gaze and held it for a moment before dropping down and tasting her intimately.

She cried out his name the moment his tongue touched her and she grabbed hold of his hair to hold his mouth hostage. There was no need, since he didn't plan to go anyplace until he'd had his fill. Every time his tongue stroked her clitoris, her body would tremble beneath his mouth.

She began mumbling words that he was certain had no meaning, but hearing her speak incoherently told him her state of mind. It was tortured, like his. He wanted her. His jeans had never been so tight.

Moments later when she bucked beneath his mouth when her body was ripped by a massive sensual explosion, he kept his tongue planted deep inside her, determined to give her all the pleasure she deserved. All the pleasure she wanted.

When the aftershocks of her orgasm had passed, he pulled away and began removing his jeans. And then he wrapped his hand around her thighs pulling her to the edge of the counter in one tug causing her to gasp. Sliding between her open legs and entering her in one smooth thrust.

He was home. And he began moving stroking parts of her insides that his tongue hadn't been able to reach, but his manhood could. The magnitude of what they were sharing send him reeling over the top, and he felt his own body beginning to explode. He felt his release shoot straight into her the moment he called out her name.

Instinctively, her body began milking him again, pulling everything out of him, making him moan with pleasure. And he knew this was just a part of what he felt for her. And it wasn't lust. It was everything love was based on, the physical and the emotional. And he hoped she would see it. Every day they were together he would show her both sides of that love. He would share his body with her, share his soul. And he would continue to make her his.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey Everyone, **

**Sorry for the late post, I had a late lunch. This upcoming weekend is going to be super busy, to be fair this month has been super busy. The Walk Now for Autism Speaks is tomorrow and thankfully we have raised way over our $1,000 goal for team Light It Up For Liv. Unfortunately for this past week I have been in bed with an ear and sinus infection (Probably from standing in the cold all day last weekend in our fundraiser bake sale). The things we do for loved ones! I wanted to give you a few updates, Being Brave Again will have a free giveaway on Goodreads and Amazon soon. PM if you want details. My little sister is officially as of this Sunday a college graduate. And a special belated Happy Mother's Day! **

**Love,**

**Punkpoet69**

The next morning Gabriella sat in her office vigorously typing away. She'd barely pulled together any energy to get out of bed after last night. She drew in a deep breath, wondering which part of her was sorer, the area between her legs or her breast. Troy had given special attention to both areas through most of the night.

The man was amazing. From the lovemaking to the feeding her a tasty meal he'd prepared. It was different being taken care of like that. Being adored, worshipped, and cared for. The way his hands caressed her all over, leaving no stretch of skin untouched. They'd taken a bubble bath somewhere in the early morning hours and he tenderly washed her massaging every muscle until she was actually purring like … well like a kitten.

A small smile tug at her lips, those wonderful memories flooded her from last night. Laughing as she ran up the stairs, his own laugh close behind her as he chased her down the hall, into the bedroom where he caught up to her and lifted her right off her feet. She never felt like this before. The fact that she could come home to him after a rotten day… she never had anything like that before. And though she should be absolutely terrified at the domesticity of it all, she found it actually left her with a feeling of blissful contentment.

"Hey you,"

Gabriella jerked at the sudden intrusion to find Taylor casually strolling into her office. "Taylor? Did we have an appointment?"

Taylor let out a sigh as she shook her head, "No, just swinging by on my way to finalize the hotel for the ceremony. I need your signature on the few things."

"Oh."

Taylor let out a huff, "I know you hate surprises but I'll be really quick. I found a minster that's willing to perform the deed and we just need your approval on paper work for your license."

"License?"

"To get married." Taylor said opening her suitcase and pulling out a sleek manila folder. "Are you alright?"

Gabriella nodded as she held out her hand for the folder. "I'll sign the papers."

"By the way, how did the interview go yesterday?"

Gabriella drew in a deep breath as the previous day came crashing down on top of her all at once. The wedding dress, the interview, Troy. "I think it went well, our answers matched up. Even ones we hadn't discussed."

"What type of questions didn't we prepare for?"

Gabriella shook her head, "Nothing to important, they asked about our first kiss and about the sex."

Taylor sunk into a nearby seat. "Wow."

Gabriella finished signing and then placed the folder to the side. "Can I ask you something?"

Taylor leaned back in her chair, "Fire away."

"What happens if we change our minds?"

Taylor narrowed her eyes as she examined her friend cautiously before responding. "What do you mean?"

"What if we decide to stay married. What if in two years we don't divorce?"

Taylor grinned, crossing her arms in excitement, "You slept with him again didn't you?"

Gabriella laughed despite herself. Trust Taylor to look at it like that. "I like having him around."

"Oh is that all," Taylor huffed, "The appendage between his legs has nothing to do with it."

Gabriella felt the heat on her cheeks as she looked down at her desk. "Things changed. That's all I'm saying."

Taylor was quiet for a moment before her features shifted. "Honestly." She said pausing to test the waters before she continued.

"Honestly," Gabriella confirmed looking up at Taylor and preparing herself for the lecture ahead.

"I think you should hold off on these ideas."

Gabriella's bit the inside of her cheek to keep from frowning, "I don't understand. A few days ago you were telling me to go for it."

"I was," Taylor admitted. "I told you to let loose and enjoy the attention of man. I didn't tell you to toss out your escape plan and put your citizenship at risk." Taylor voice lowered at the last second. "What do you think is going to happen when you suddenly tell him that there's no money at the end of the rainbow for him."

Gabriella sobered sharply. "Troy's not like that."

"Gabs, it's only been a couple of weeks. Do we really know what Troy's like. Correction, are you willing to bet the farm on it? Because that's what you'd be doing."

Gabriella bit her bottom lip as she looked off to the side. She had to admit, she didn't really know what Troy was like. She only knew the man she been putting together for this INS Scheme. Then there was the Sharpay incident that was eating away at her and she just let it slide because he distracted her with sex. How did she let this happen? Although she had a hunch that Troy wouldn't intentionally break her heart, he would break it just the same. How could she have fallen in love with him? She knew the answer without much thought. Troy had been an easy man to fall in love with. "I'm so stupid."

"Look, sex does make things a little bit more complicated. I know that you have a crush on him and I really don't want to see you get hurt. Trust me, sticking to the plan is the safest course for all parties involved. You might be in a honeymoon state of mind and that's great because we can use it to our advantage." Taylor paused as she stood up from her seat. "But when it's over your going to want a way out and we already have one he signed and agreed to. It's for the best."

"You don't know the half of it," Gabriella placed a hand on her temple to ease the throbbing ach there. "I need you to run a background check on someone."

"Who?"

Gabriella nodded as she looked down at the paperwork on her desk. She could ask him one more time about Sharpay. Demand that he tell her the truth. No. She tried that and got nowhere. "Sharpay Evans."

"Who is she?"

Gabriella was quiet for a moment as she thought about the tall blond leggy daisy duke wearing whore she'd met back in New Mexico. The one declaring her love for her soon to be husband. "I'm not sure, but I want to know more."

"Gabs," Taylor's voice softened. "What's going on?"

"Just do it."

Funny thing about weddings, no matter how hard you try to remind yourself it isn't a big deal, it always is. Troy knocked on Ryan's door and waited patiently for a response. The wedding was officially a week away at this point. He wasn't sure if it was the wedding or their last exchange but Gabriella was acting all sorts of complicated.

She wasn't saying much, she wasn't around much and she went out of her way to make damn sure they weren't alone either. She was always working late, working early, working on the weekends. And even when she was home, someone else was here. A wedding planner, Taylor, Chad, her secretary. He frustrated, he just wanted the wedding over with so things could go back to normal. Whatever the hell that was. Because let's face it, he'd yet to have normal with it came to Gabriella.

Just as he was about knock again the door swung open and he came face to face with other green eyed Evan's siblings. _Could this day get any worse?_

"Hey you," she said with a lazy smile.

"What are you doing here?" Troy crossed his arms as he stood firmly planted on the porch.

"How dare you treat me like some casual acquaintance?" Sharpay let out a laugh, "Need I remind you, we have quite the past."

"I remember, I'm beginning to wish I could forget. Why are you here?"

"If you must know I'm visiting my brother and my adorable niece," Sharpay flatten out a winkle in her pink skin tight dress.

"Bullshit."

"Well, I'll admit to hear I wasn't invited to the wedding did cause me some pain, but I have my ways." Sharpay leaned on the door frame and let out an audible sigh, "After everything we've been though."

"Stay away from my wife."

"She's not your wife." Sharpay corrected. "She's not even your girlfriend."

"Where's Ryan?"

"Oh relax, he's inside with Kelsi. She just finishing up her hair. How do I look?"

"I told you to leave us alone Sharpay. I gave you money."

"Yeah, you always did have thing for putting your foot down," Sharpay reached out and brushed off some invisible lint from his shoulder. "I figured you be uptight about me going to the bridal shower, don't you worry about that. I'm Kelsi's plus one. You're bride to be won't even know what's coming."

"You are not going to that bridal shower," Troy's hand reached out and took hold of Sharpay's arm yanking her towards him. "You're going to stay away from her."

"Troy… I couldn't take the money," Her voice a held a small wince as she pushed out the plea. "She doesn't care about you, you're not part of her world any more than she's part of yours. This thing you're doing is federal crime. You can go to jail. Do you really think that she cares about that? She's using you."

"You don't know her like I do."

"I'm ready!" Kelsi said coming down the stairs with Ryan close behind. "Sorry the zipper got stuck and this is only dress I have that fits and doesn't have vomit on it."

Troy released Sharpay causing her to back away from him quickly. "Kelsi you look radiant."

"Sure if radiant had the hips of the titanic sausaged inside a lavender cocktail dress."

"Hey," Ryan intervened with a tap on her backside. "I made a baby with that sausaged love boat."

Kelsi rolled her eyes, "Sharpay, your brother gross, and I apologize on his behalf."

"You married him," Sharpay huffed, "I tried to warn you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, now go warn Gabriella about this clown," Ryan joked as he pushed them out the door. "Us men have drinking to do."

"Trust me, I have only the best intentions at heart." Sharpay said as picked up her purse from the side table.

Troy watched as the door shut his stomach free falling as he tried to catch his breath. "Shit."

Gabriella sat quietly on her couch in a room filled with women as she peered down into her glass of wine. So this was it. This was a bridal shower. A gift-giving party held for a bride-to-be in anticipation of her wedding. If only she anticipated her wedding. Right now it was the only thing keeping her busy, keeping her occupied with a to do list, keeping her away from Troy.

What would happen when the wedding was over? When seating charts didn't need organizing and menus didn't need taste testing or gifts registered. What on earth was she going to do when all this was over?

She could not keep getting caught up in this stupid, pointless sentimentality. It was a fake wedding for God's sake. Weddings just made people emotional and stupid, there is absolutely no reason to get emotional over all this. Weddings were just a con to begin with. Weren't they?

"Sorry for lying about dinner," Taylor said as she sat down on the couch next to her, "I didn't know how else to get you out of the house so we could set this up."

"It's fine," Gabriella murmured as she lifted her glass to her lips. "I needed an escape, even if it was a for a few moments."

Taylor was quiet for a moment as she watched Gabriella place her glass of wine back on the table top. "Look about the other day in your office."

"You were right. I don't know him all that well, it's only been a month. We need the wedding to work and we can't risk it."

"Yeah, but I could have-"

"Could have what sugar coated the fact that we're just taking advantage of a very convenient loophole in the immigration laws of the United States that allows couples to stay together if their willing to sign a stupid little piece of paper." Gabriella voice had lowered to harsh whisper as she looked down at her wine. "There's no sugar coating that."

"You need to cheer up,"

"What for?" Gabriella frowned, "Do you realize that I'm using this wedding as a way to avoid my soon to be husband. As far as I'm concern this party might as well have my casket right there under that stupid little umbrella."

Taylor let out a laugh as she brought her glass up to her lips, "You're something else."

"You don't know what he looks like when he sits down and works on his crossword puzzles," Gabriella warned, "The man literally sits up in bed working on crossword puzzles, and he looks delicious. Like a Ben and Jerry's Flavor."

"It just sounds like you're horny."

"But I've never been this way before, literary this morning I got a whiff of his aftershave and I felt my knees separate a little."

"Before Eric and I got married the sex was fantastic. Just watch out for that tract infection, Honeymooners get it all the time." A woman said as she passed by with a giggle.

Gabriella face instantly flood in with embarrassment as she covered her mouth to hide the shock. Her eyes wonder around the apartment at all the strange women there conversing with one another. "Who are all these people?"

"I have no clue," Taylor confessed as she brought the wine glass up to shield her smile. "These are the names in your contact list."

Gabriella let out sigh as she glanced down at her glass, "I swore there was a time in my life were I actually socialized."

"We're grown women with careers we can't be expected to keep in touch with everyone?" Taylor justified. "These days I don't think I could name five friends without claiming a relative."

"Yeah well at least you have those," Gabriella said quietly. "Troy's side of the room will be filled with loving friends and family and all I've got is a bunch names on my contact list. Not to mention the Reporters who will be praying for me to fall or get stood up at altar."

"Which we're not going to let happen."

Gabriella was quiet for a moment as she looked at the gifts on the table in the far left corner of her apartment. "What are the odds someone got me a really good vibrator?"

Taylor spit out her wine as she lurched forward in laughter.

"Gabriella!" the sound of Kelsi voice sent Gabriella up in arms as she turned and spotted Kelsi making her way through the crowd, a friend close behind her. "Thank you so much for inviting me. I hope you don't mind, but I brought my sister-in-law with me."

"Oh we've met before," Sharpay put her hand out as she smiled at Gabriella once they were face to face. "Hey Gabi, it's so nice to see you again." Sharpay held her head high, keeping her pride intact. "You have a gorgeous home."

_Could this night get any worse? _

"It's Gabriella." She heard herself say as she stood from her spot on the couch. "And it's a pleasure to have you here." She'd just have to make the best of an awkward situation. She made a mental note… when the time came to get married for real, she have to get this invasion of her bridegroom's old flings under control. But right now, right now she had to save face.

"I don't believe we've met," Taylor said as she stretched out her hand to greet Kelsi. "My name is Taylor, I'm the maid of Honor."

"Kelsi," Kelsi introduced herself, "One of Troy's friends, this is my sister-in-law Sharpay."

Taylor's facial expression stilled as she eyed the blonde in front of her and the name fell into place. "It's such a pleasure to meet you."

"Same here," Sharpay nodded as she looked around the main floor. "A person could get lost here."

"I almost did," Kelsi laughed as she tucked her clutch under her arm. "Troy says it's easy if you stick to one floor and think of it as Uncle Paul's boat. Bathrooms and bedrooms in back and the deck in the front with a view."

"Right," Gabriella said slowly, not quite sure why her home was being compared to a boat. _Why was she here?_ Why was she currently standing in the middle of her bridal shower? Was she planning to attend the wedding? She wouldn't, would she?

Gabriella nudge Taylor forward, "If you'll excuse us, we have to see that the food comes out on time. Please help yourself to a drink. It's an open bar!"

As soon Gabriella and her friend disappeared Sharpay let out a breath, this was going to be a lot harder than she thought. Coming all the way to New York and talking some sense into him wasn't going to work and she could tell just by the greedy atmosphere of this palace that your majesty wasn't about to see it any other way. "This place is extremely over done."

"Oh I don't know about that," Kelsi shrugged as she led them to the kitchen were the wine was being served. "It looks very modern."

"You mean boring," Honestly who had wine served at a bridal shower, or elevator music playing softly like they were at funeral? Seriously, she expected cold and distant but this was just void of all personality.

"It's just a little classier than what we're use to is all," Kelsi corrected.

"It's nothing like Troy." Troy was warm, he had family. He had backyard parties and wore wrinkled jeans. Nothing about any of this felt right.

"These days Troy's nothing like Troy," Kelsi laughed as she picked up two glasses and handed one to Sharpay. "He's all grown up now."

Sharpay eyes wondered around the apartment her eyes settling on the wide open view overlooking New York City. "How do we really know he's happy here?"

Kelsi huffed, "Have you seen him?" lifting the glass to her lips she took a sip and let out a sigh of relief, "Hell I'm happy here."

Sharpay lips fell into a frown as she turned to look at Kelsi questioningly. "How much do you know about this woman?"

Kelsi paused as she pulled the wine glass away from her lips and actually looked at Sharpay, "Are you jealous?"

"No." Sharpay bit out quickly. "Let's remember who left who." Glancing around Sharpay reached over and pulled Kelsi over to a more secluded area. "Don't you think this is all a little odd? Just a few months ago the man couldn't rub two nickels into a dime and now here we are standing in some multimillionaire's home?"

Kelsi nodded, "I know it's weird, but they're getting married? I mean what else could it be if it isn't love?"

"Extortion." Sharpay said lifting her glass to her lips for a long sip.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I think she's using him."

Kelsi rolled her eyes, "Whatever for, the woman could have whatever she wants. What on earth could Troy possibly have that she wants?"

"Citizenship."


	16. Chapter 16

Hey readers,

The Amazon giveaway was last weekend. (There will be another one soon.) There is a Goodreads giveaway for Being Brave Again going on until May 29th 2015! Log on and enter to win. Also I love, love, love reading your reviews. They light up my day. Also remember you can keep up with me on twitter, Instagram, Facebook or on my website. As always happy reading.

-Punkpoet69

Troy walked into the living, his eyes scanning the area. The room was full of random women laughing and talking. Faces he'd never seen before. He couldn't get the knot out of his stomach and he knew he wouldn't be able to until he laid eyes on Gabriella and saw for himself that she was fine.

He tried calling. He tried calling the house line. He tried texting. But it wasn't until he got a call from Kelsi that he was able to justify coming back here and crashing her bridal shower.

As Troy began weaving his way through the maze of people, Kelsi came running up to him. "Troy," Kelsi came up to him with a drink in hand and concerned look in her eyes.

"Where is she?"

"Upstairs. She came down with her friend but after a while she disappeared again. She's sick but she won't come out of the bathroom."

Troy let out a sigh and he continued to make his way up the stairs. When he reached the second floor he could hear the sound of Taylor's voice as she pounded on the bathroom door.

"Gabs, you cannot let her do this to you." Taylor shouted. "Pick yourself off that floor right now and unlock this door."

All that was heard coming from the other side of the door were groans.

"How long has she been in there?"

When Taylor turned to see him, her face immediately relaxed into a smile of relief. "Thank god, what the hell where you thinking?"

"What?"

Taylor crossed her arms, "How dare you and side show Barbie bombarded her like this. You might have the impression that she's some lonely old rich lady, but she is not lonely and I will sue the both of you until hell freezes over if you think for one second that you can your little tramp running in and out of this house."

"I don't think that, and Sharpay isn't _my _anything, however _that _woman behind _that _door is _my_ finance. How much has she had to drink?"

Taylor lips flatten as she lifted her head, "she's been in there for almost an hour. I think she might have gotten sick, and she isn't making much sense. I'm not sure if I should take her to the hospital or not. She had a bottle of whiskey when I saw her last."

"God damn it," he growled.

"Well it's not entirely her fault. She perfectly fine until that woman showed up. I thought I talked her off the ledge, apparently I was wrong."

"Just get these people out of here," Troy said as he approached the door, "The party's over."

Taylor nodded, "What about your ex?"

"Keep her out of my sight." Stepping past Taylor, Troy pounded on the door. "Gabriella, open up." He demanded firmly.

"No," she replied. She had answered immediately, which was encouraging. But her voice had sounded weak, which was not.

He tried the handle. No go. He pounded on the door in frustration. "Kitten, open the door. If you don't you know I'll break it down. Then you won't have a bathroom door to hide behind."

There was silence for a few seconds, and Troy was about to go down stairs and get his hammer when he heard the lock click.

He pushed the door open and found a half naked Gabriella slumped against the tub. Her dress was unzipped and hanging off her body at the waist. Her head slumped over and her hair wild as parts of it stuck to her cheek. It was obvious that she was drunk as a skunk, but he was here. With her. He'd take care of her.

"Well, don't get me wrong. It's not that I'm not enjoying this view of your human form, but just out of curiosity, any reason you're topless?" Troy asked, knowing what he said would irritate her but hoping to get a rise out of her.

"This isss't funny Troy." Gabriella wouldn't look up at him, and her words escaped through clenched teeth.

He knew he shouldn't be enjoying any part of this, but his relief was powerful, like a drug coursing through his veins. He had been so worried that he would find her crying and upset, or vomiting and in danger of alcohol poisoning, that finding her topless and frustrated made him almost as giddy as a school girl.

Bending at the knees so that he was crouching down in front of her, he rested his elbows on his thighs. He touched her chin to lift her face up and that's when he saw that she had indeed, been crying.

A sharp stab of pain ripped though his chest. God, he couldn't stand seeing a woman cry. And this wasn't just any woman. This was Gabriella.

"What happened?" he asked gently as he ran his thumb along the wet streak running down her soft cheek.

She sniffled and pulled her chin out of his grasp, but continued to keep her head up so that she was facing him eye to eye.

"You're girlfriend showed up."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Fineeee, you're wife in waiting…"

"You're my wife in waiting," Troy smiled as he began cleaning her up a little.

"And why isss that, I'm no one, I have no one, I don't know anyone here. I'm a big fat nothing-ness."

Troy came a little closer and held her face in both his hands, "You're the most intimating person I've ever met. Everything about you inspires me to be better, to think smarter, and to prove that I'm the kind of man worth your time. I love you and you're too stubborn to let me." Troy laughed at that last admission.

Gabriella propped her head in his hands, her eyes heavy. "I've never been in love before," She took a deep breath as her hand came up and pressed against her temple.

"So I'm growing on you?" Troy smiled.

"Your ex looks like a blow up Barbie and your family already loves her."

Troy smiled a little. "Will you knock that off," he said quietly as he fixed her hair so it wasn't stuck to her cheek. "You're perfect, you're sexy, and my family is going to learn to love you."

"Troy?"

"Yeah?"

"I puked on my dress."

"Because you're drunk," Troy said reaching over for some more tissues. "I've done it; Ryan's done it, hell one time Kelsi puked on Ryan. It happens."

"Ohmigosh, Kelsi, Troy there are people here."

"And we're working on that," He said standing up.

"Wait, don't leave."

"Why don't I go get Taylor and she can help you get settled, I'll make sure everyone leaves and that the house is back to normal."

"I don't want Taylor's help. I want you."

Troy knew logically, that Gabriella was drunk and not exactly choosing her words carefully. Not like she normally would. She wasn't thinking through all of the possible implications of what she was saying. She probably just felt that he could handle the situation better than Taylor because as of lately he been there for every time she gotten a little drunk.

Sure, he realized all of that. But he couldn't help it. Hearing the words, "I want you," come out of her mouth was a straight shot to his heart. Troy began unbuttoning his shirt.

Gabriella's eyes widen, "I didn't mean like that."

Troy rolled his eyes and grinned. "You should be so lucky," he teased as he quickly pulled his shirt off of his shoulders and wrapped it around her allowing her to slide her arms through the sleeves.

"Oh," she said quietly.

"Do you think you can make it to the bed?" Troy asked as he helped her up.

"Of course," she answered, looking at him like he was a world –class idiot for even asking the question.

But as she stood, her legs wobbled and she would have fallen right back down if he hadn't been there to steady her. Without warning Troy scooped her up into his arms.

"This is becoming a habit for you," he said as he made his way into the bedroom.

"My hero," she murmured as her body relaxed and she melted against him. She just buried her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was warm against him even through the fabric of his undershirt.

Troy felt his chest puff out involuntarily, and the most intoxicating mixture of pride, affection, and flat-out lust coursed through his veins at the sound of those words. Even as he reminded himself that she as drunk, that what she was saying right now didn't mean much.

Still.

When he came up to their bed he gently laid her on her side, unaware of Kelsi's presence in the doorway.

"Oh Troy," she let out a low breath she watched him with a frown. "What have you done?"

Troy stilled as he hovered over Gabriella for moment who was drifting off to sleep. "What are you talking about?" he said as he did up a few buttons on his shirt to cover her up.

"Please." Kelsi said quietly. "Just tell me that it isn't true. Tell me you weren't that stupid."

Troy reached for Gabriella shoes and undid the fancy strap so he could remove them. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Kelsi stepped further into the room, as she watched him begin to remove Gabriella's other shoe. "You need to tell her the deal is off Troy."

Troy stilled as he looked up at Kelsi. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"If you really love her, don't do this," Kelsi crossed her arms. "I'm not condoning what you've done. In fact, I'm not going to lie. Pimping yourself out for a green card is beneath you and I expected more from you. Tell her the deal is off, give her back whatever it is that she's given you and get as far away from this as you can before you get yourself in trouble."

"It's not that easy Kelsi," Troy said quietly.

"Make it that easy Troy. For goodness sake what are you planning to do if this gets out of hand?"

"I have it under control."

Kelsi rolled her eyes as she looked around the bedroom. "For once please use your brain and not your penis to make a decision."

"Kelsi," Troy snapped as he tossed the shoe across the room. "I really just need you to mind your own business right now."

Kelsi hands came up to her shoulders as she gently rubbed them and then looked off to the side. "I thought I knew you. Turns out you've changed, how unfortunate."

Troy bit the inside of his cheek to keep from calling her back as he watched her walk out of the room.

The next morning Gabriella opened her eyes slowly as she shifted in bed, memories of the night before flashing before her eyes in a blurred mess. She saw flashes of herself taking shots of whiskey, beginning to feel sick, making her way upstairs, Troy coming into the bathroom.

Then … nothing.

She couldn't remember anything past that. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her arms above her head to stretch. As she did, she looked down and noticed she was wearing Troy's button down shirt. She couldn't remember how she'd gotten into bed, let alone how she'd gotten into the shirt.

Coffee. Gabriella needed a cup of coffee.

Pushing herself up and out of bed she walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs, the light pouring into the living room making her eyes squint and her temples ache.

"Good morning,"

Gabriella stopped in her tracks as she noticed Troy standing in the kitchen tying the drawstrings on a trash bag. "Morning."

"We need to talk."

"I respectfully disagree," she murmured as she shuffled over to her coffee maker.

"Last night," he said. "That can't… we can't let that happen again."

Gabriella placed her red mug on the counter in front of her after hitting the on button for her coffee. "It won't. Things just got a little muddled is all, but it's done."

"I don't think it's that simple," Troy said moving the trash bags off to the side.

"I've hired a cleaning service to do that."

"I fully capable of a little house work," Troy picked up an empty bottle of whiskey and placed on the counter top between them. "Want talk about it?"

"Troy," Gabriella paused as she looked down at the coffee pot that filled slowly. "I'm sorry. I know it's been fun. It's not personal. You're very charming. I have a good time when we're …together. But we have to control ourselves. Last night, that bottle. It just proves my point. This has gotten messy. I'm not built for messy. I'm built for neat, strict boundaries, and if this is going to work out that's exactly what I need right now. A big huge boundary."

Troy took a deep breath as he kept his eyes on her. He wanted to scream. He wanted to fight her, to bite and kick and maybe even throw something across the room, he wanted to do every irrational thing that came to mind, but instead he just stood there. Very still, staring at her. Nodding.

She watched him for another moment, waiting for the other shoe to drop. When he didn't give her that satisfaction she turned back to her coffee and filled her mug.

After that things were very quiet. They barely spoke, dodging each other on the main floor as Gabriella shorted through her gifts and Troy continued to clean up despite her mention of the cleaning service. She'd just about opened her fourth his and her bath towel set when Troy approached the table.

"That coffee, are you done tasting it?"

Gabriella made a face as she looked down at her mug she'd forgotten about a couple of gifts back. "I'll clean it."

"I might as well take care of it while I'm up," he sighed.

"To be clear, I never asked you to clean up after me."

"But it does seem to be what I do, doesn't it." Troy countered as he plucked the mug from the coffee table.

"Oh my god. I can't believe we're having this conversation." Gabriella brought a hand up to her temple as she gently applied pressure.

"We are because you want to have it," Troy said walking away from her.

"I'm just trying to make it easier for us to live together."

"No." Troy said sharply, "you're trying to make it easier to for _you _to live with _me_."

"You're more than welcome to let me know if there is anything I can do to make your life easier," she said, in the flattest tone possible.

"Oh really?" he said spinning around. "I'm so glad you raised the subject. How about treating me like a human being? And not trying act like nothing ever happened between us?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Yes because let's have this conversation for the millionth time."

"Yes," he said raising his voice. "I would because I'd like to know what the hell's wrong with you."

Gabriella crossed her arms as she shifted her weight. "What the hell is wrong with _you_?" she demanded. "Do you not understand what is happening here? Do you not see how _hard_ this is?" her eyes looked crazed as she motioned around them. "Being near you all the time… seeing you all the time… sleeping next to you."

"God damn it Gabriella, are you really that self-absorbed? Are you really that selfish?" Troy walked towards her. "You think I don't have those problems?"

Gabriella recoiled as if she'd been slapped. Her hands instantly came up to cover her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said very quietly. "I didn't realize that I was twisting your arm." The humiliation began spreading through her face.

"That's not what I said." Troy looked utterly defeated, slumping back as he let a sigh. "You know that's not what I said."

"No, I'm sorry you just said I was selfish. And self-absorbed." She said hating that her voice was becoming thick from the tears slipping out of the corner of her eyes. "That's a whole lot better."

"Kitten,"

"Don't." Her hands came up defensively. "Don't you kitten me." She was done with this conversation and she wasn't going to just stand there and stare at his stupid unreadable expression while she blubbered like a stupid baby. It was humiliating.

"Gabriella,"

"We're done here," she turned to head upstairs and to her mortification he followed suit.

"We're not done, we both just admitted we have feeling for each other. That's not going away."

"Ugh, can you just leave me alone?" it didn't sound as authoritative as she'd hoped between sniffles.

"I'm not capable of leaving you alone," he said reaching for her arm and pulling her to him. "Last night I took care of you, I didn't do that because it's my job. I didn't do that because you're paying me too. I took care of you because that's what you do for the people you love. I took care of you because I was genuinely concerned. I still am."

The buzzer went off downstairs.

"Christ." Gabriella shrugged away from him. "I look like shit."

Troy stared at her in disbelief, "all that and your worried about looking presentable for guest?"

The buzzer went off again.

"Just get the door," Gabriella said disappearing into her bedroom to find pants to wear.

Troy rolled his eyes as he took a deep breath and turned to head downstairs.

Gabriella slipped on a pair of stretch pants quickly and half-heartedly followed him down the stairs. The sudden shift had taken away all of her momentum to keep fighting him, and she found herself staying off to the side not really wanting to be seen in her current state.

Troy opened the door.

"Mr. Bolton?"

The voice sounded vaguely familiar, and for some reason it made her heart drop into her stomach. There was a short pause as Troy stared back at the man behind the door.

"Yes," he said politely.

"It's Eric Duprey" the voice said "I'm from the INS. May I come in?"

Gabriella entire body went ice cold. She wanted to turn and run, but her feet were glued to the floor. So she just stood there staring dumbly, as the same man who quizzed her about her relationship with Troy strode into their home like he had some right to.

He glanced at her and nodded politely. "Miss Montez," he said, not reacting, visibly at least, to her tear streaked face. Or that she was cloaked in one of Troy's shirts, with her hair frizzled out at all ends.

"Is this about the interview?" Troy asked.

Mr. Duprey looked at him. "No," he said at last. "But concerns have been raised about the validity of your relationship. In such cases, an unscheduled home visit is customary. Of course, you have the right of refusal. But if you do refuse, other measures will be taken."

"No," Troy said. "We, that's fine. You can do whatever you need to do."

"Can one of you show me around the different rooms of the house?" he asked.

Troy nodded, coming forward. They went to the guest rooms first, including Troy's studio. _Thank god_ they were sleeping in the same bed. Troy prattled on mechanically about each stop. Mr. Duprey nodded, taking notes. They disappeared upstairs for a while and then came back down stairs.

"Thank you," Mr. Duprey said, shaking Troy's hand. "I appreciate your cooperation. I'll be sure to make a note of it in the report."

He walked out the door, and Gabriella exhaled. She knew logically that the man had only been inside her home for a few moments, but it had felt like hours.

"What in the fuck?" she said as Troy turned towards her.

"Someone must have said something." He clenched and unclenched his fists. "Someone must have contacted them."

"Someone?" Gabriella narrowed her eyes, "Troy. I choose my intimates very carefully. No one close to me would have betrayed my confidence. I'm sure about that."

"I know," Troy ran a hand through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh, "It was me, two people know about us."

"What?" her entire body froze as she looked at Troy with shock. "Who knows?"

"Gabriella," Troy said reaching out a hand to calm her down.

"No," she pulled back, "Troy, who knows?"

Troy let out a sigh as he placed his hand on his hips, "Is there any way I can get you to sit down."

"It's her isn't it?" Gabriella let out a breath as she placed a hand over her stomach, "The wedding is in four days Troy."

"And it's going to happen."

"Is it?" Gabriella choked on a sob as a fleeting feeling began to consume her. "What if I never see you again? Oh god, what they lock you up?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Troy quickly crossed the room and took her in his arms, caught off guard when she latched onto him. "It's not going to happen."

"You don't know that," her sobs became uncontrolled. "We don't know. I-I-I'm going to lose you."

"No." Troy said with authority, "We're getting married, we're going to be just fine. We're a team." His arms wrapped around her as much as he could manage. Holding her close until the sobbing slowly became a muted muffle as her body collapsed into his.

A few months ago, if he'd been told that Gabriella Montez cried actual tears, he would have laughed and considered it a joke. But tonight, as they both sat on the floor wrapped in each other's arms just staring out at the New York sky line she sniffled every so often and he quietly brushed her hair back with his fingers. Neither of them had said anything for a while.

The weight of everything was sinking in around them. In retrospect, of course, it seemed insane that they had ever agreed to this arrangement. Even as careful as they'd been. All the effort that they'd gone through, trying to make sure they seemed legitimate. All it took was one careless slip by a vengeful ex. something neither one of them could have seen coming, not from a million miles away.

And here they were grappled with the problem that was truly bigger than they were. This was no overdue utility payment or a busted transmission. This was a potential felony charge, this was five years in prison. This was their life, changed forever. And not in the way they had signed up for.

Troy quietly nudge her.

"I'm sorry I never told you," he said. "About Sharpay knowing. I gave her some money, I hoped she'd go away."

"Now she wants more?"

"No." Troy let out a sigh, "I'm not sure she wants anything from us."

"Of course she wants something. We're going to have to figure out what that is before it's too late." Gabriella said with a small sigh.

"Had I known she was going to call I would have said something sooner."

Gabriella was quiet as she shifted in his lap so she was looking up at the ceiling. "You couldn't have known she would call INS."

Troy let out a sigh as he watched her facial features in the dim lights of the living room. "What are we going to do?"

Gabriella shrugged as she let out an exhausted groan. "We can try to get married, everything already planned and paid for."

"So we're clear, If it isn't...the deals off. I won't take any money for this."

Gabriella let out a huff as she looked up at him. "One condition."

"I'm listening?"

"I'm not ready to talk about children."

Troy let out chuckle as he slipped his hands inside her shirt so they were resting on her chest. "So we're doing this for real?"

"I guess so."

Troy smiled as he rubbed his fingers across her breast, "One condition."

Gabriella let out a groan.

"I need to hear you say it."

"Say what?" Gabriella shifted so she sitting up, their faces inches apart.

"Three words, eight letters, say them… they'll have to get through me, if immigrations taking you anywhere."

Gabriella smiled as she let out a small giggle, "Yeah, sure… I love you."


	17. Chapter 17

_**Dear readers, **_

_**I am so sorry for the wait. With the Autism fundraiser, then the walk, my sisters out of town graduation and celebrations of bridal showers, birthdays and other graduations… May hasn't been a very productive month on the writing front. I am working on it. There isn't much planed this month, so I am going to catch up with this one and my next Fanfiction. **_

_**-Punkpoet69**_

_This couldn't be the end of it. _The woman he loved was about to be kicked out of the country. 

Troy pulled into Ryan's already open garage and immediately put the car in park. His mind was racing. His heart pounding, after Gabriella left this morning he had nothing to do in the apartment but pace his office.

Troy got out of the car his eyes pausing for a moment to take in the mini Disney princess ford mustang in pieces on a tarp. _Must be Ryan's latest daddy project_. Stepping over it he headed inside through the attaching door that lead into the kitchen. He stopped when he saw Ryan standing at kitchen counter unwrapping what looked like a big battery of some kind.

"Hey,"

"Hey," Ryan smiled, "I know you're not here about your car. I've seen that delicious apple an-"

"Where's your sister?" Troy interrupted.

Ryan paused and turned to see Troy standing in the doorway, "Is everything alright?"

"So you don't know," Troy sighed, "That's refreshing." He shoved his hands into his pockets as he came further into the kitchen.

"You're not having cold feet are you?" Ryan said as he picked up a rag, "Because I got news for you, I think this girl is the best you're ever going to get."

At that Troy laughed. "No cold feet. In fact it's just the opposite," Troy said as he brought his hands out and relaxed a little and leaned on the counter top. "It feels crazy to feel like this about someone. I mean there was a time I actually thought that woman was allergic to the full spectrum of human emotion."

Ryan raised a brow, "She is odd, I'll give you that."

"Now it's just different, like before I met her I had no idea you could just look at some one and smile for no reason."

"This is nothing; wait till you have a kid. You have no idea what love means until you have a kid." Ryan said as he looked down at the battery in front of him. "Michelle's got a little princess mustang from her aunt. Of course her aunt decided that putting it together was more of a daddy job."

"Well you are an engineer," Troy said with a smirk.

Ryan held up the battery, "I specialize in planes. I don't know how many times I have to explain this to you guys but a plane's engine is totally different from a car."

"You're still the closest thing to a mechanic in the family."

Ryan rolled his eyes as he placed the battery on the counter. "At least I won't be the one with the deepest pockets anymore. Now people can ask you for money."

"I don't have any money," Troy said pointedly. "I'm not rich. My soon to be wife is rich."

Ryan let out a laugh this time, "Which is the kind of thing that only a rich person would say."

"It is, isn't it?" Troy joked as he made a face.

"Hey Ryan, Kelsi wants to know where you put the-" Sharpay came to an abrupt pause in the doorway of the kitchen as she noticed Troy's presence. "Troy?"

"Sharpay."

Ryan let out a sigh,"I'm gonna go hook this 12V battery up." Turning to leave he paused and took a step back so that he could pull out one of the kitchen drawers. "I'm also going to take this knife drawer with me because I'm afraid you two might get blood everywhere."

Troy smirked as Ryan left the kitchen and disappeared through the door leading to the garage. Turning around he faced Sharpay and did his best to control his temper. "To think, there was a time I was actually relieved to see you."

"Funny," she huffed, "There was a time I actually respected you."

The tension in room could have been sliced with a knife. _Maybe even with a chainsaw._

"What's the miracle you didn't tell him?" Troy asked as he pointed towards the garage.

"He's your best friend; he practically thinks you walk on water." Sharpay crossed her arms as she stared at him with a small frown. "Why are you here?"

"Sharpay, you are a guest to my wedding." He ripped out the words through gritted teeth. "Not my choice, but you are. So let's be civil and do me a favor?" he asked, but didn't wait for her response. "Stay away from Gabriella, you've done enough."

Troy did not like being hostile to Sharpay, or any other woman, but he knew this one all too well. Civility meant something more than its true purpose in her eyes.

"Troy," Sharpay started.

"No, have some dignity." His tone was less than friendly, "I chose someone else. Move on."

He hated the hurt in her eyes, but it was necessary.

"You didn't choose her," Sharpay spit out, "She chose you and she's taking advantage. Do you know if you get caught you're looking at a 250,000 dollar fine and 5 years in jail?"

"If we get caught?" Troy let out a bitter laugh, "That's rich coming from you."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"We got an unexpected visit from Immigration and Naturalization Service yesterday." Troy couldn't help the raise of his voice. "Funny isn't it, the minute you show up, all hell breaks loose."

Sharpay jerked as her arms flew apart in an obvious sense of panic, "What happened? I thought you were careful? Who else knows?"

Troy brows shot up as he took in Sharpay's change in demeanor, "You didn't call them?"

"Of course I didn't call them!" Sharpay shouted, "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know," Troy threw up his hands, "History, the money I gave you, your reputation as a bitch?"

"Hey?" Ryan came in from the garage. "It's getting a little loud, what in the world is going on?"

"He's acting like an idiot!"

"And she's acting like a vengeful cunt!"

"Hey!" Kelsi shouted as she came into the kitchen and tossed a rag over her shoulder. "The two of you need to take it three notches down right now."

There was silence for a long moment as Troy stared at his friends and then took a few steps back bracing himself on the kitchen counter top. "If you didn't call them who did?"

"Who called who?" Ryan asked beginning to get a little frustrated.

"Someone called immigration." Sharpay placed a hand on her hip.

"Immigration?" Ryan looked around at all of them, "Why should that matter?"

"Gabriella was born in Canada," Troy answered as he tried to think through the past month. "She applied for a citizenship, but the paperwork was never filed her associate ran off with the money and now they've threaten to kick her out of the country."

"Can they do that?" Ryan said a little caught off guard, "I mean, she not a terrorist or anything?"

"Of course they can," Sharpay responded, "She's illegally here."

"But she'd getting married?" Ryan face lifted, "Troy's in love with her and their getting married. Isn't that like a rule?"

"No," Kelsi chimed in, "Gabriella needs a green card and Troy agreed to marry her to get one and she's paying him for it." Kelsi explained as she placed her hand on her hips. "That's fraud."

Troy's eyes narrowed as he glared at Kelsi, "You called them?"

"I might not agree with what you're doing, but I'm not stupid. We're practically harboring a fugitive," Kelsi shot back.

"You lied to me?" Ryan turned to look at Troy in growing anger, "This whole thing was a scam and you included my family as accessories to your get rich quick scheme?"

"No, Ryan I-" was the last thing he remembered before he saw stars.

_Who knew Ryan had such a good left hook?_

The day was a success so far. Gabriella's speech had been well received, and the software was bug-free so the demo was easy. She made notes to call the VP of Development later to congratulate him and offer bonuses to her programmers.

Gabriella had never felt so relieved in her life. She'd done speeches before, she'd taken over large corporations, and small ones and she'd rubbed shoulders with elite businessmen around the world. Suited with a power suit and business plan she could rule a board room, but this wedding, the Troy situation, the INS fiasco. She was in way over her head.

Gabriella swallowed. She hadn't thought of Troy all day, thank God, but now his image was returning to haunt her thick and fast. She wanted nothing more right now than to lie with him naked in their nice warm bed. He would take her, slide over her hot body and enter her slowly, maybe even tease her a little before plunging in deeply until she called out his name.

_Whoa_

She cleared her throat, she glance outside of the open empty conference room at everyone bustling around, not taking any notice of her. She drew in a deep breath and blew it out again. Only four more hours and she could go home. _To him. _

What a new concept, sauntering into work a few minutes late and rushing home.

What would her mother say about her now? The woman who had done it all by herself, the woman who worked two jobs to put Gabriella through school, three to put her through college. Her mother had taught her to never depend on anyone but yourself, and what a lonely exists that was.

Gabriella bit her lip as she shook all of these thoughts from her head and looked up at the screen where she was suppose to be reviewing a presentation that was going live later that evening for new software they were trying to sell. Her eyes looking up at the screen as she clicked through her slides with the remote, spell checking every line, making sure the images matched up with the slides. She barely noticed the sound of a knock at the open door until a human figure was standing in the room looking up at the same presentation beside her.

"You do love your work."

Startled Gabriella glanced over and met eyes with Eric Duprey.

"Mr. Duprey?" she said finding her voice extremely and surprisingly faint.

"Don't worry it's all part of the process," he chuckled, "Just wanted to see how things were going. I hadn't expected to find you at the office so close to the wedding."

Gabriella nodded as she pointed her remote at the screen and dimmed out her presentation. "Things still have to get done. The world doesn't stop spinning because you're getting married."

"Clearly," Mr. Duprey said coming further into the room towards the windows, "Although now that you're getting married, I'm sure your priorities are going to change."

"They probably will," Gabriella said crossing her arms as she looked down at her buttoned up blouse. _Breathe, just breathe._ There was no need to panic. No one was here to arrest her. _At least she hopped. _

"Have you made arrangements for your Honeymoon?"

Gabriella nodded, "We've decided to spend a weekend away in Hawaii."

"Just a weekend?"

"Mr. Duprey, I don't know if you've noticed, but I am President and CEO of Software Solutions." Gabriella shrugged her shoulders, "I've worked hard to get this far, Troy knows this and he understands my work ethic. He hopes to be building his own at home business by the end of the year. We've already started looking into names for it."

"I am aware. He spoke about it briefly during my tour of your home."

Gabriella remained quiet as she watched him cross his arms as he admired the view from the window.

"A wedding is a sacrament... a joyous celebration of love and commitment."

"It's also an excuse to drink excessively, eat dry cake, dance to really bad music and wear really uncomfortable shoes."

"You are an interesting bride," Mr. Duprey smiled.

Gabriella opened her mouth and shut it. Her mind turned for a moment as she thought about all the chess pieces on the board in front of her. "Mr. Duprey why are you really here?"

"The INS wants to make a deal with you," he murmured.

Gabriella's entire back straighten and she walked towards the door to the conference room and shut it. "Why don't you go ahead and say what you've come here to say."

"It appears we have a situation," Mr. Duprey said as he turned to face her. "The person you hired to file your paperwork," he sighed.

"Taylor Danforth is my lawyer, she handles all my paperwork. If there is something missing we can-"

"Not Mrs. Danforth."

Gabriella raised her brow. "Jason Cross."

"It has come to our attention that he is doing this to other unsuspecting clients," Mr. Duprey adjusted his glasses. "He's hired to handle the arrangements, begins our process, everything is going according to plan and then-"

"He runs off with money." A betrayal she knew all too well, that left a bitter bile taste in her mouth. "What on earth do you want from me?"

"He called us about your arranged marriage."

Gabriella held still, she insides growing cold and stale as a stomach acid made its way up her throat only to be swallowed back down in stride. "And of course, if it's coming from him it has to be true?"

"Our apologies." Mr. Duprey nodded.

Gabriella crossed her arms over her chest, "What do you want?"

"Your testimony in court. We're currently working with him on a case. He doesn't know it yet, but when he makes his move to run this time. He won't get far."

"All I have to do is testify in court?"

"Well this will be a very public situation," he countered. "We've gathered at least seven clients on our side. Your influence on the case could really lend the publicity we need to make an example of him."

"So in other words you want to use my name to put on a dog and pony show?"

"Our intention isn't to put on a show of any kind," he said sounding offended. "We want to make sure this doesn't happen again. We want justice."

"And I want to stay in the states and live a long happy life with my husband." _Did she really just say that. And mean it_. Gabriella lips pulled into a smirk. Gabriella wanted more than intangible. She wanted it all, and that was the solid, rock hard facts. Facts that were the only way she could regain control of her life and all these fears of uncertainty that were crushing her. "This is our home Mr. Duprey and I'll be damned if I'm going to start a family anywhere else."

"We understand," his hands reached into his coat pocket. "I've been instructed to give you this." He placed a envelope on the table and slid it across.

Gabriella picked up the envelope and she opened it with a steady hand, even though her vision was going black around the edges as she struggled to focus on the words.

_Dear Miss Montez, _

_Your application for permanent residency has been processed and accepted…_

So this was it. This was what it had all been for.

Gabriella looked up at a smiling Mr. Duprey and held out her hand. "You have my testimony, and anything else you need to put that son of bitch behind bars."

"Have a wonderful wedding and honeymoon," he nodded as he took her hand.

Gabriella couldn't help the infectious giggle that bubbled up from inside her. It was almost impossible not to laugh. Or smile, or speed walk into her office where she immediately fumbled with her phone barely having the presence of mind to know who she was calling.

After three rings Troy's voice mail picked up and Gabriella let out squeal, "Troy call me back immediately!"

Hanging up she dialed Taylor next.

"I got the letter!" she blurted out just as Taylor answered.

"What letter?" Taylor said trying to sound as excited as Gabriella.

"The one that says they accepted our application!" Gabriella couldn't stop herself from jumping around like a mad woman. Who was she? What had this imposter done with the woman she'd once been? "I'm leaving the office early. I'll be right over we have to redo all the paperwork!"

"Oh my god," Taylor voice was one loud squeak, "You're leaving work? _Early?"_

"Yes, right now in fact." Gabriella grabbed her laptop and sweater as she struggled to keep her phone between her ear and shoulder. "I'll be right over."

Troy eyes slowly opened as he looked up at the ceiling in Kelsi and Ryan's living room. Somehow he'd ended up on the couch. His head was throbbing, though not as badly as the burning sensation of his right eye. He could barely keep it open. Bringing a hand to his cheek he felt the tender swollen skin just below his right eye.

_Great, there goes the wedding photos._

"Welcome back," Sharpay said as she came to sit down beside him a bag of frozen peas in her lap.

Troy moved a little to make room on the couch for her.

"Doesn't this just take you back to that weekend when Ryan caught you and I in the back the ice cream shop?" Sharpay smiled as she brought a bag of frozen peas up to his right temple.

Troy smiled a little as he reached up and held the bag on his own, "If I remember right he shoved me into a mailbox back then and I knocked my jaw on the brim."

"Go figure, Ryan went all Buffy the Vampire Slayer when we weren't looking?" Sharpay offered with a smile.

They were quiet for a while as they sat together watching some random commercial on the television.

"Where is he?" Troy asked removing the peas and wincing from the pain.

"Out back with Kelsi," Sharpay shrugged. "They've been arguing. A lot."

"I really do love her," Troy said quietly.

"I'm sorry. I did what I did in anger, and I shouldn't have done it, but it can't be undone now." Sharpay said as she fidgeted with the hem of her blouse. "You can't only imagine how I felt when I found out you were getting married. It was like all the air got sucked out of my lungs. You were always kind of my back up plan. My go too if all else failed."

"Sharpay when we broke up I wanted you to come to New York with me, I wanted us to try to make a new life-"

"I know and at the time I didn't want to leave my home. I've lived in a small town all my life. I'm not cut out for a big city."

"I didn't mean to-"

Sharpay shook her head as she let out a sigh, "We grew up, grew apart and now you're getting married. I mean, I supported you, I believed in you. Then I find out its all scheme and I just panicked. I thought you were ruining your life. Of course I lashed out. When I found out it was fake, I couldn't believe my luck at first, and I acted on my first bitchy instinct. It was a terrible idea and I'm sorry."

Troy let out grunt as he shifted so he could sit up, "At first it was just a scheme." He said quietly, "I hit rock bottom pretty hard last year when I had to ask dad for money. I mean here I am college graduate in the work force, my parents think I'm magically going to cure cancer with my programming skills?"

They both laughed.

"At first pretending to like her wasn't hard, then pretending to love her started to be second nature," Troy lifted the peas to his cheek again. "I mean at first I thought it would be alright, maybe even lend an air of authenticity to the whole thing. Couldn't possibly hurt for me to be a little smitten, could it?"

"You fell for her." Sharpay smiled, "How Pretty Woman of you."

Troy let out chuckle as he rolled his eyes and then winced as he remembered his injury. "I'm sorry I got so mad at you, I'm just scared. I'm scared that the woman I love is going to get deported. I could care less about what happens to me, I just can't let anything happen to her."

Sharpay let out a breath and looked back at the television, "Well then I guess we need to fix this."


	18. Chapter 18

"He's your friend."

"Oh now he's my friend?" Ryan shot out as he paced the back yard. "A couple of days ago you were all, at least he has his life together, and we're such a good influence on him."

Kelsi leaned against the side of the building and placed a hand on her temple to dull the throbbing pain there. "What are we gonna do now?"

"I don't know Kelsi, what do you want me to do?" Ryan let out sigh as he placed his hands on his hips. "You want me to ban him from the house, you want me to turn him in, what?"

"Why does everything have to be so dramatic?"

"Because if you haven't noticed, we are currently breaking the law for him!" Ryan tossed his hands out in frustration.

"He does love her," Kelsi mumbled.

"Yeah well she's rich and beautiful … what's not to love." Ryan kicked a rock clear across the yard. "I can't believe that I believed him. I should have known something was up."

"How could we?" Kelsi responded as she walked towards him, "They had chemistry."

"Did they?" Ryan questioned. "Why does he always have to be the hero? Did it ever occur to him that he could get into serious trouble? Trouble that we can't get him out of?"

"It's not our job to get him out of trouble."

"Says you?" Ryan huffed, "His parents would sauté my nuts if they knew the predicament he's in. We're were best friends in high school, college roommates, we lived in the same shitty apartment, he was my best man."

"And then you punched him."

Ryan eyes narrowed at Kelsi, "Be happy that was the only thing I did."

Kelsi smirked as she looked back at the house, "Look, he's gonna come too soon and we don't know even know if he's gonna want our help."

Ryan rolled his eyes, "of course he does. It's classic Troy he has a broken car, we fix it, he doesn't have food, we feed him, he doesn't have rent money, we spot him…."

"Ryan," Kelsi said with frown, "He's like our son at this point. How are we not supposed to help him?"

Ryan was quiet as he looked around the yard a sense of overwhelming despair came over him. "Kelsi, he lied to us. He brought this woman into our home and instead of trusting us he lied."

"It sounds like you've already made up your mind."

Gabriella looked down at the letter for the fifth time. So many indescribable feelings were coursing through her body. Why did she feel like punching a hole in the goddamn wall? Why was she shaking? And most importantly why wasn't Troy answering his phone. "I can't believe it."

"Neither can I," Taylor said as she poured wine into two wine glasses. "Jason Cross gets his in the end, you become a citizen and everything can go back to normal."

"Normal?" Gabriella huffed. "It's been a long time since things have been normal."

"Well," Taylor interjected. "As soon as you called I began consulting with some of my people from the inside."

"We're in the clear right?" Gabriella said as she hesitantly took her glass. They had to be. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.

"They've all agreed that we're through the woods now. There'll be no more interviews or surprise visits. The decision has been made, the file's been sealed. So… really there's no reason to keep up the façade."

Gabriella smile fell, "What?"

"Look I know what the contracts say but really, if you guys don't need to married. Why do it?"

Gabriella leaned back in her chair as she clasped her fingers together. "I think that's a little premature."

"I think this will be better for both of you," Taylor confessed as she lifted her wine glass. "You guys have been running so fast and blindly towards this wedding, that maybe it's a good thing its off the table. If in about a week or so you still like the guy you can date him, but why rush into a marriage if you don't have to."

Gabriella bit her lip, "I always just… I guess I just figured we'd stick to the terms of our agreement." Memories flooded her from the last time she suggested they get rid of the contracts. A slow uneasy feeling began to fill her.

"Yeah but I mean wouldn't you rather him live on his own and get his career going. You worked really hard to get to this point in your life and honestly supporting someone else is not sexy." Taylor rolled her eyes, "It might make it too easy for him."

"What about our wedding?" she asked after a moment's hesitation.

"So what?" she shrugged. "Someone gets cold feet, they don't show up and we just send out apologies and return the gifts." Taylor shrugged her shoulders, "People change their mind all the time."

"I don't know Taylor," Gabriella said quietly as she reached for her glass. "I love him and I don't think it's a fluke, I think this is the real thing."

Taylor placed her glass on the table, "Gabriella, we're talking about marriage. A full blow, only know this person a few months marriage. Chad and I dated for three years before he proposed. "

"I know how crazy it sounds."

"Then please don't take this the wrong way but I think you guys need a break." Taylor said quietly. "Make sure this absolutely what you want."

"The wedding is in three days."

"So stay part for three days. Let's see what happens."

"And then what?" Gabriella laughed, "if we both show up on our wedding day than we just get married."

"Exactly, if at the end of three days on your own you still think this is a good idea. I'll support it."

Meanwhile Troy pulled out his cell phone out from his pocket shifting into a sitting position as he scrolled through two of Gabriella's missed calls.

"Shit," he mumbled hitting the call back button. After the third ring it went to voicemail. Something wasn't right. Troy let out a sigh as he stood up. "I have to go."

"Well I'll tell Ryan you lived," Sharpay nodded as she got up from her spot on the couch. Just as they were heading to the back door, Ryan and Kelsi came stopping them dead in their tracks.

"Oh my god," Kelsi said as she looked at Troy's right eye, "Are you okay?"

"I think I'll pull though," Troy said looking past her at Ryan. "Are we okay?"

"Oh, don't worry," Ryan said with a huff, "Your wedding will be perfect. We won't say anything to your guest. And as your best man, I'll smile and say all the right things, and you'll deal with the shit storm you've created when it blows up in your face." Ryan said harshly as he walked up to Troy. "But right now, today, I'm not going to pretend its okay that you lied to me."

Troy's shoulders fell as he stared off at the kitchen table, unable to meet Ryan's heavy glare or watch as he walked past him and out of the room completely without another word.

"I'll try to talk to him," Kelsi said quietly.

Troy shook his head as he swallowed the lump past his throat. "No, it's alright. I deserved that."

"He's right about one thing," Sharpay sighed as she crossed her arms, "Shit is gonna hit the fan if we don't fix this."

Troy nodded as he took out his car keys from his pocket, "I'm gonna go, I think I've done enough damage for the day."

"Can you drive?" Sharpay asked.

"We'll find out I guess," Troy made his way towards the door leaving Kelsi and Sharpay behind in the kitchen.

"Shar," Kelsi said quietly motioning in the direction Troy left.

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "Fine, I'll take care of him, you go take care of your annoying husband."

"Thank you,"

After more debating about the separation idea she finally decided to go home. Gabriella let out a sigh as she got into the elevator leading up to her apartment. She was drained, emotionally and psychically… her feet were begging to be freed from their lavish Bettie designer classic blue pumps.

When the doors opened she walked down the hall to her door and let herself in instantly removing her shoes and wiggling her toes against the cool wood floor. "Troy?" she called out as she placed her briefcase off to the side.

"He's upstairs," Sharpay's voice, velvet-edged and sickeningly sweet filtered through the walls of her home.

_Seriously? _

Gabriella plastered on the face of indifference as she turned to see Sharpay leaning against the kitchen counter. Seeing her blond strands messy and tumbling over her shoulders while she stood there sipping a glass of water in her own kitchen was enough to push even the sanest of women over the edge.

Drawing in a deep breath she did her best to subdue the claws inside her from emerging. "Why are you here?" Gabriella asked, staying in the entryway and hanging onto to the side table where she'd placed her briefcase.

"There was an incident," Sharpay began as she placed the glass down on the counter. "Things got a little heated and-"

"And what," Gabriella cut her off, "you going to tell me he's upstairs showering off the reeking stench of you."

Sharpay stood up straight as she nodded her head, "Alright, yeah I'll take my lumps."

"Excuse me?"

Sharpay let out a sigh, "I'm not the one who ratted you out."

Gabriella crossed her arms, "No you're just the back mailing, home wrecking blonde standing in my living room."

"Whoa," Sharpay said coming to stand in front of her, "Okay, I'm sorry that I acted like a straight up bitch, and tired to scare you off, but I was lonely, stupid, and protective of a good friend." Sharpay held her hand out for a shake. "Friends?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she walked past Sharpay and further into her living room looking for any indication of Troy. "Where is he?"

"I'm right here," Troy said as he came down the stairs, "I was on the phone with mom and dad, they were confirming their flights out for the wedding."

Gabriella shifted her attention from Sharpay to Troy as he approached the main floor, "What is she doing here?"

"I needed a ride home."

It was at that moment that Gabriella let out a gasp as when she saw Troy's right eye, "What in the world happened to you?" she said racing over to him as she held her hand up to examine his face.

"I figured our wedding photos needed an edge," Troy joked.

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she swatted him on the chest, "Troy, this isn't funny you have a black eye. You look like a common thug."

"Because Ryan hit him," Sharpay interjected, "Because he found out about the wedding being fake."

Gabriella turned to glare at Sharpay, "I bet you're just loving this aren't you."

"Hey I'm not the bad guy," Sharpay said defensively. "It's not like I pushed him into Ryan's fist."

"But you are the one who had to stir things up," Gabriella gritted as she turned towards Sharpay. "It wasn't bad enough that you toyed with me, but now your savage brother has to attack him."

"Alright," Troy brought his hands up to Gabriella waist and pulled her back behind him so he was in the middle, "I'm okay, and really I'm not broken, just a little puffy. Ryan and I had a disagreement it had nothing to do with her."

"Oh so now your defending her?" Gabriella crossed her arms, "Is this how it's going to be? Ex-girlfriends are just a forgiven? Should I go get and pen and pad so that I can write down a list of girls I have to just put up with from now on?"

"No." Troy's shoulders slugged as he tried to get the right words together. "Gabriella," he began, "we talked it over, she's apologized and she wants to help us."

"Well that's adorable but as it turns out I don't need her help. I already handle it and if you would have answered your phone you would know that."

"Oh I'm sorry," Troy said sarcastically, "I was a little busy getting knock unconscious!"

"And whose fault is that!"

"Clearly not yours," he laughed "Why would it be? I only lied to everyone I know to help you out."

"Oh and there's been nothing in it for you?" Gabriella pointed out, "How quickly we forget everything I've done for you to make any of this more than fair. Well here a load off your shoulders, I got my citizenship today so I don't need you keep doing me any favors."

Troy opened his mouth to start yelling when suddenly her words dawned on him. "Hold on, your application got approved?"

"Yes," Gabriella said placing her hands on her hips.

Troy lifted his hands in the air and let out frustrated groan as he shook them in wild confusion, "Why didn't you start with that!"

"Because you have black eye," she said pointing at his face.

"Oh my god if I didn't love you, I'd strangle you," Troy let out a breath.

"Great now that, that is settle pack a bag and go find a hotel."

"Wait…What?" Troy's body grew tense again. "What just happened?"

"Okay," Sharpay said holding up both hands, "I'll just call myself a cab, you two seem busy and well I'm just gonna go." She didn't wait for a response. She didn't hold her breath to see if they noticed her leaving the building. Clearly they didn't, the sounds of their yelling could be heard from the hall even outside the closed door.

Her eyes traveled down the hall as a tall dark skinned man dress in slacks came up to the elevator. He was looking down at his phone, tapping away at the screen when he looked up and glanced her way. "Hello,"

"Hey," Sharpay smiled.

Another yell caused both of them to look back at the door.

"Must be married," the man said as he turned back to the elevator.

Sharpay smirked, "Getting married this weekend actually."

The man made a face as the elevator doors opened. "Think they'll last?"

Sharpay got onto the elevator behind him, "They wouldn't fight so loud if they didn't care."

The man nodded as he tucked his phone into his pocket. "Zeke Baylor."

"Sharpay Evans," she smiled politely.

"Do you have any dinner plans this evening?"

Sharpay smiled as she placed a hand on her hip, "I believe I just made some."

Troy looked at Gabriella with an annoyed expression. "So let me get this straight, you got your citizenship today and now you want me to go to a hotel so I can stay away from you for three days?"

"When you say it that way of course it sounds ridiculous?" Gabriella walked into the kitchen to get a drink.

"Enlighten me, how else am I suppose to say?"

Grabbing a tumbler from the cabinet she placed on the counter top in front of her. "Getting married is very important decision, I've rushed you into it, and for the last few months there hasn't been another option on the table."

"I wasn't aware I suddenly wanted options."

Gabriella pointed at him as she reached in the fridge for the pitcher of orange juice. "We need a break, time apart to see how we really feel about each other."

"Gabriella when you find somebody you love, all the way through," he said taking the pitcher from her hand. "And I mean they love you, even with your weaknesses, your flaws, everything starts to click into place."

"Troy I do love you," she said looking up at him as he hovered over her, "but we shouldn't get married just so we can date."

"I don't want to just date you," Troy put the pitcher to the side, "if we can talk to each other, and listens, if I make you laugh, and make you think, make you want, and make you see who you really are, and who you are is better, just better with me, you'd be crazy not to want to spend the rest of your life with me."

_Why did have to say things like that?_ Gabriella wondered. There was nothing hard, nothing penetrating about Troy's gaze. It was warm and comforting. It drew her to him. That little bit of eye contract made her feel like she knew him, like she could trust him, like he was taking her into his world. It was strange to her that Troy was both the cause of so much of her inner turmoil and also the only person who made her feel at ease."You're also very modest," she finally said.

Troy shrugged "Are you really going to make me stay away from you for three whole days just so that I can think about something I've never been more certain of my entire life?"

"It was Taylor's idea," Gabriella frowned. "She thinks were moving too fast."

"What do you think?"

Gabriella was quiet for a moment before reached up and began un-popping the buttons of her shirt. "I think I want you to take me upstairs."

Troy stared at her for maybe two seconds, then strode over and threw her over his shoulder. As they climbed up the stairs Gabriella let out giggle as he stumbled.

"Are you laughing at the half blind man?" he said pushing their bedroom door wide open.

Gabriella let out another laugh before she shook her head, "No."

Dumping her onto the bed, he lay on top of her until her giggles subsided and she lay boneless and quiet under his weight. He became aware of every soft curve and valley of her body. Her eyes darkened with a similar appreciation of their differences.

It was just them. No strings or problems hanging over head, no impending doom looming in the distance. Just them, two crazy happy people in love with one another who wanted to nothing more than to get married and spend the rest of their lives together.

She'd barely resolved herself to this reality when he moved over her and edged down to kiss her softly. His tongue delicately glided over the line between her lips. When she parted them for him, he licked lightly across the undersides.

It felt increasingly good. Made her breath quicken and her blood pound. She reached up to tangle her fingers in his soft brown hair. She was just getting the hang of their make out session when he moved away, trailing little kisses over her face and down her neck.

She gave a sharp gasp when he found a sensitive spot at the base of her throat.

"How's that Kitten?" he murmured against her skin.

Gabriella nodded, "I think there room for improvement," she teased.

"What?" Troy looked up at her and then began pulling her shirt out from her skirt and opening it to reveal her body to him for better access. "Someone's getting cocky."

Before she could answer him his mouth moved down over her breast sucking her nipple over the fabric of the bra.

"Oh," she gasped, grabbing at his head instinctively.

He flicked her nipple with his tongue, sending little tugs of pleasure shooting down between her legs. As his mouth moved against her flesh, another sensation joined the first one. She shuddered in the wake of it. Then arched up as he nuzzled between her breasts.

She tried to hold back, but a little giggle escaped her lips.

"What are you laughing at?" he said raising his head. "You keep this up, we're going to have issues."

Gabriella bit her lip, silently cursing her lack of control. She really hoped he wasn't offended. "You have stubble and it tickles." It was the truth, so she might as well admit to it. Maybe it wouldn't spoil the mood too much.

Troy chuckled, obviously not offended. "You'll have to forgive me; when I woke up this morning shaving wasn't really at the top of the list. If it really bothers you I can shave it. But I don't think it will tickle for long."

She blushed red hot when she realized his implications, and pressure tightened at her groin. "That sounds kind of smug. I'm not sure I've seen any cause yet for you to be-"

She broke off with a ragged gasp when he grazed her nipple with his teeth.

"What were you saying?" he asked, a delicious kind of texture to his tone.

"Don't be smug." She laughed again, which was so strange since she was quickly growing aroused at the same time. She felt his kisses and the feel of him fondling her for several more minutes, and it wasn't long before his stubble tickling her was the last thing on her mind.


	19. Chapter 19

Taylor chattered the whole time they were getting their hair done. Sharpay and Kelsi bustled in and out of the room gathering items and last minute touch ups. Gabriella nodded and smiled through it all, but she didn't hear a word of it. None of this meant anything to her. All she could think about was Troy.

His smile yesterday afternoon before Sharpay and Ryan showed up to kidnap him. Another stupid wedding superstition. Not seeing each other before the wedding. She hadn't seen him in fourteen hours and for first time since they'd started this crazy mess she realized just how much she hated being away from him. It felt like no one understood her the way he did.

The last three days of welcoming his family into town, letting his parents stay with them and just being part of a family at all. She never expected to have so many feelings. It made walking through the gallery doors this morning breathtakingly dramatic. They had set up pew-style seating and laid out a long, red carpet for her to walk on.

She wondered through the gallery aimlessly until Taylor had tracked her down with clipboard of duties and insisting that it was time for her to change into her dress.

Her hair was up in a bun, with curls cascading down her neck and face. Her makeup had been expertly applied to ease any dark circles and highlight her eyes and mouth. Her nails were extended and painted. She didn't even feel like herself.

Who was the girl gazing back?

"Don't worry," Taylor said as she bent down to look back at Gabriella in her vanity mirror. "Everything is on schedule."

Who cared about the schedule?

Gabriella let out a deep breath as she shifted in her wedding dress. She was being sequestered in a small room off to the side. God forbid anyone should see 'The Dress,' but Kelsi kept offering to get her things. Water, Champagne, food… Gabriella felt like a child.

When there was a knock at the door her stomach lurched and she abruptly turned in her chair unreasonably hoping that Troy couldn't stand being away from her either.

"Oh my," Lucile said as she placed her hand over her heart. "You look beautiful."

"Hi Lucile," Gabriella said a little unsure. She nodded to Taylor who was clicking away at her blackberry, "Could you gives us a moment?"

"Oh yeah, sure," Taylor nodded as she left the room leaving the two women alone in private.

Lucile came further into the room, "How are you feeling?"

"Scared," Gabriella answered honestly as she brought a hand to her stomach, "Excited, but terrified that I'm going to screw something up."

Lucile shook her head, "It's just nerves, on my wedding day I couldn't sit still."

Gabriella did her best to smile, but her face was beginning to hurt; "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Lucile came to her side.

"Are you happy that it's me coming into your family?"

"Are you kidding?" Lucile stretched out her arms and wrapped them around Gabriella. "I'm so glad to finally have a daughter in the family. You're beautiful inside and out. Jack and I are thrilled to have you in our family."

Gabriella let out a sigh as she had to fight the sudden melancholy wanting to envelope her. Lucile words meant so much more to her then she could ever imagine. She had no clue how much she needed to be included in a loving family. She'd give up any amount of money to be loved the way Lucile and Jack loved Troy. And she was just getting a small piece of that now, and she didn't ever want to let it go.

She hadn't even been aware of that until she met Troy. It was something she'd been denied growing up and she knew when she had children of her own one day that she would love them as much as the Bolton's loved their son. How much she longed to have a mother like Lucile to be there for her through that process. She'd be forever grateful.

Gabriella shook her head, pushing away all the sadness of those thought away. She'd learned a long time ago not to dwell on what she didn't have. It was much better to focus on the present.

"Have you seen Troy?"

Lucile smiled as she pulled away from Gabriella, "He's excited and his hands won't stop shaking. He's never been good in front of large crowds. Peed his pants once during a performance of Romeo and Juliet. He was a Tree."

Gabriella laughed as, a genuine full laugh that made her cheek warm.

"Listen," Lucile said reaching into her purse, "I wanted to give you this," she pulled out a slim box and handed it to Gabriella.

"Oh, I couldn't-"

"You can," Lucile interrupted, "It was my mothers, and I've waited for a long time in to pass that down to my future daughter-in-law on her wedding day."

Gabriella lips parted as she looked down at the sliver box and then cautiously lifted the lid. Her breath hitched as she looked down at the most charming white gold bracelet with the brightest blue sapphire hearts in the design. "This is so pretty."

"It's something old, something blue and something borrowed," Lucile smiled as she took it from the box and held it out for Gabriella's wrist. "One day, you're going to be a mother. And when their wedding day comes around you can continue the tradition."

Gabriella's eyes watered, as a wave of happiness filled her. "You've been so kind to me," she whispered admiring the bracelet on her wrist. "I've been so nervous that you wouldn't like me."

Lucile let out a huff, "My son is in love with you, and you love him. That's more than enough for me. "

The music started and Gabriella jerked in her chair. "Oh god… Please, please, please don't fall." She murmured to herself.

Lucile nodded, "You're going to be just fine."

Chad opened the door, "Okay, we've got about ten minutes until go-time. How's everyone feeling?"

"Good," Gabriella said staring at her reflection in the mirror. "We feel good right?" she said as she tried to arrange her face into something that looked more like happiness, like she wasn't afraid of walking down the aisle by herself, like she wasn't silently wishing she hadn't been so feminist about someone giving her away.

In all honesty there was no one there to give her away. A tiny frown shifted over her features. "I can do this."

"I have to go take my place," Lucile said comfortingly, "You're going to do just fine, take some deep breaths."

Gabriella nodded and turned in her chair as she sat there alone, waiting for the clock to tick away the time as she took deep breaths. As soon as she stood up the door opened as she was face to face with Jack.

"Hey," she said a little caught off guard.

"Hey sport," he said coming into the room and offering a warm hug.

"What are you doing back here, we have to start any minute now?" Gabriella felt a jolt of panic, "Troy's alright isn't he?"

Jack face exploded into a lost state, "uh… the wife …. She …. She told me you were green around the gills."

Gabriella was about to open her mouth again when Jack continued on.

"With your own father not here, I wanted to you to know I'd be more than honored if you'd allow me walk you down the aisle."

Gabriella eyes burned as she replied to his kind offer. "It would be my honor to have you escort me. You're the kind of father I always dreamed of having."

She couldn't say anything further because she got entirely too choked up as she looked into his kind eyes. He pulled her close for another hug, and she clung to him, hoping he'd never let go. She'd been so careful all her life never to get too attached to people, and yet, in few short days she was falling in love with an entire family. Even his insane grandmother who kept measuring her hips for childbirth.

"Now, now, you don't want to get all teary-eyed and ruin your makeup. I don't think my son could handle any delays. He's been pacing up and down the hallway all morning. The preacher just led him to his spot at the altar." Jack chuckled.

Gabriella nodded as she let out a laugh of her own as she remember the tree story. "Yes, no delays." Taking a calming breath, her shoes clicked on the marble floor as they approached the carpet, and everyone turned to look. She clutched her bouquet like a shield in one hand held on tightly to Jack with the other as she forced herself to look straight ahead.

She spotted Troy standing on the stage, just a short distance from her. He took her breath away with how beautiful a man he was. Their eyes met and held. He gave her a smile that seemed to tell her everything would be okay.

Gabriella felt like the wind had been knocked out of her and she had to stop to catch her breath. Jack looked at her quizzically, but she didn't notice. She didn't notice anything but the way her body quivered.

She was in love with him.

Troy felt a moment of panic when she stopped halfway down the aisle. Was she going to turn and run? Had she changed her mind? He wouldn't let her get that far. He'd chase her all the way to Tibet if that's what it took.

He breathed a sigh of relief as they began walking towards him again. When his father placed her hand in his and she stepped up to stand beside him, a quiet calm washed over him. He had her in his arms and he wasn't letting go.

He barely heard the preacher speaking. He focused just enough to repeat the words he needed to say otherwise his mind was consumed by his beautiful bride.

She was a vision. She had so much natural beauty that outshone all the stars in the sky. When they finished the ceremony and the preacher told him to kiss his new bride, Troy gave a full fledged smile.

"Gladly."

He bent her slightly backwards and consumed her mouth, quickly forgetting they were standing in a room full of people.

He lost track of time and had no idea how long the kiss lasted. It had been too long since he'd last held her and even longer since he tasted the sweetness of her lips.

"Ah, son, you have plenty of time for that during the honeymoon," Jack interrupted the pair while slapping Troy on the back. Gabriella turned scarlet as their guest laughed.

In the end, the reception was lovely. The twinkling lights hung above them in the outside space perfectly. When the sun set the light came on and everything had a fairy tale glow, better than anything she could have dreamed of.

She'd eaten a few tiny sandwiches and downed a great deal of champagne. She talked and laughed with everyone she knew and some of the people that she didn't. Troy had somehow managed to fully populate the place, and as she worked her way around the room she learned they were from every imaginable time and location of his life: High school friends, College buddies, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, neighbors and even some of their software solutions co-workers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the groom would like your attention please."

Gabriella smiled as she turned her attention to the stage where Troy was standing.

"Hello," he said with a brief nod. "As many of you know, my wife, boy that sounds weird to say." He laughed for moment as he earned a few chuckles from the crowd. "My wife and I had a hard time picking out our song because she wanted something classic, something that would stand the test of time. You know because that's what the book said," Troy tucked a hand into his pocket. "And that's how my wife is, if there's a book on it, that's how we're gonna do it."

More laughs.

"I wish I was kidding," Troy joked as he looked out into the crowd, "Anyways, I prefer to do things a different way and with that said she might have picked our first dance of the evening with a sappy ballad, but I want to dance with her tonight to a different song."

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms.

"You see the first time we danced to this song I told her I was going to sweep her off her feet," Troy smiled as he motioned for the DJ to start the music. "She didn't believe me then, but here we are on our wedding day and she is … a very much swept woman! I invite everyone to join us for what I like to really call our song."

Troy handed over the mic and descended from the stage holding his hand out to Gabriella as she came to join him on the dance floor.

"You just had to get this in didn't you?"

"And, darling, I will be loving you 'til we're 70, and, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23." he sang softly as he pulled her close and began to sway her gently back and forth.

"You're such a goof," she laughed playfully as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I can't believe I married you."

"I can't believe you did either," he snickered. "What a sucker."

Gabriella let out a gasp as opened her mouth to protest, but before she could he shifted, lifting her up bridal style and spinning her around earning cheers and catcalls from the crowd. All she could do was laugh.


	20. Chapter 20

Epilogue

_Two Years Later _

Troy's lips flattened into a grim frown as he searched around the hospital room for a free space. "You've got to tell these people to stop, seriously. I don't think this room can take another bouquet." Troy said as he tried to fit another vase of flowers on the crowded bedside table.

Gabriella let out a huff, "I can't just tell our family and friends to stop wishing us well." She looked down in her arms as she check on her son, "Besides you told me that it was polite to let people buy you things."

Troy rolled his eyes, "When I said that, I was talking about gifts for the baby."

Even exhausted, Gabriella looked from her husband to her baby boy and felt pride and happiness as her family grew. She could see the affection and wonder shining in Troy's eyes. He been very active in her pregnancy every step of the way. Reading to the baby while they lay in bed at night, cooking meals that helped with Gabriella's diet so that she stayed healthy and gained the weight she had too. Gabriella's lips pulled into a small smile. "Either way, you said so yourself it's impolite to turn away other people's kindness."

There was a knock on the door before Troy could respond making him close his mouth and shake his head.

"Can we come in?" Jack peeked his head into the room.

"Sure," Troy laughed, "Come on in dad."

"Got this for him," Jack said as he entered their hospital room with catcher's mitt.

"Dad?" Troy said taking the mini child's glove from his father. "He can't even walk yet?"

"I tried to tell him that when you were born," Lucile came in behind him with a bag of food. "Have you eaten?"

Troy shook his head as he took the bag, "You are a god sent."

"Just your mother," she said offered with a smile.

Gabriella smirked, "I see where you get your modesty," she joked as she handed her son over to his grandfather.

"Oh I can't wait till our son starts organizing his binky's by color and days of the week," Troy teased.

Jack gently took his grandson from her daughter-in-laws arms, and a tear spilled freely down his cheek. "You two have done really well here," Jack said rocking his grandson back and forth.

"Let me hold him," Lucile beg coming up to Jack and the baby, "You're hogging him up."

"Well it's not my fault he loves his grandpa," Jack said in his baby voice, "Don't you?"

"Jack?" Lucile laugh as nudge him and began taking the baby from him.

"Blame them, they only had one," Jack laughed.

Troy raised a brow as he came by his wife's side, "Guess we'll have to work on giving him a little sister," Troy said as he looked at Gabriella hungrily. She was still the most beautiful thing in his universe, even after giving birth to their first born.

"Troy, as much as I want a ton of grandbabies running around my back yard every summer and Christmas, you might not want to scare off your wife so soon?" He said with a smile. "It's never a good idea to start talking about child number two when she's still feeling the pain from number one."

"Let me at that beautiful great grandbaby," the door swung open as Troy's grandmother came into the room carrying a huge teddy bear, balloons, and a large bag of chocolates. "Wow, there's a lot of flowers in here? Don't people know you had a baby not a green house?"

"Hi Grandma," Gabriella said with a big smile.

There was another knock on the open door as Taylor poked her head inside, "Hey,"

Troy and Gabriella smiled, "Hey."

"I was here first," Grandma said looking over at the baby. "I have holding rights before her."

Gabriella let out laugh, "Grandma, you'll get to hold him."

Troy walked over to his grandmother and took the items from her arms, "Go on and fuss over of your great grandson."

Taylor and Chad came into the room followed by Ryan and Kelsi who stopped in the door way.

"Michelle wants to meet her god brother," Ryan explained as he motioned to the sleeping child hanging over his shoulder, "She didn't quite understand the whole baby has to be born first concept."

Kelsi smiled as she looked at Gabriella surrounded by a growing crowd, "What's his name?"

Troy smiled as he looked back at Gabriella then over at Ryan, "Funny you guys should ask, you see we wanted to wait till everyone here and now everyone is," Troy chuckled as he placed the things in his hands down into a nearby chair.

"Yes," Gabriella pushed herself up in bed as she looked around the room. "All of this started because of a huge mistake at the INS with my paperwork, but we've taken that negative and turned it into a big positive. So much so that we've decided to name him Jackson Jason Bolton."

"JJ, for short." Troy smiled, "I came up with that one."

"He's so perfect, Gabriella, just like his parents." Lucile beamed as she handed him over to grandma.

They all visited for over an hour, as Troy watched his family coo and ahh over his son. Everyone was excited to see the baby, and to congratulate the proud momma. He'd never imagined feeling so happy or so proud than at this moment in time.

Just two days ago he had his hands on her stomach feeling the baby kick and now here they were surrounded by love and happiness with his son smiling up at this huge crazy family they'd put together. A family filled with so much love and laughter. His heart never felt so big.

The End.

Be on the look for my next Fanfiction _Welcome to Motherhood_.

After a drunken one night stand with a family friend, Gabriella finds herself pregnant and terrified. She has no idea what to do, how to come clean or if her family will even accept her.

Unfortunately there's only one way to find out.

Troy should have stayed gone when he had the chance. Coming back was a horrible mistake. If there was anyone who needed to get his shit together and his head on straight it was him. He'd fallen for his best friends girl, left town so he didn't have to watch her fall in love with him and then came back to be the best man at their wedding.

And now he'd done the unforgivable he'd gotten his best friend's little sister pregnant.

He should have never come back to Chicago.


End file.
